https://mastodon.social/@Finite_Banjo/117496689017558389

source: https://lemmy.world/post/53512795

@[email protected] Have you gotten more donatoes lately?

The closest tag on the official forums is "networking" which I don't think is relevant. I'm talking Paid, Unpaid, on Contract, Part Time, Full Time, the works.

Yesterday I saw a post about a repost bot automating a feed from Reddit. That's not what an RSS bot is, of course, you can RSS from all kinds of different places on the web, but after seeing that post I started to really look at the poster of things which show up in new and at certain times of day it is an overwhelming amount of RSS bots for things like Qatar state owned media Aljazeera and others.

Rimu is apparently working on a Piefed feature to filter them all out, but that can't be consistent and I feel like it doesn't really disinsensitivize them, either.

If it's going to fill up the feeds then I think I'll just downvote them every time regardless of content. Is that rude or am I justified on this?

I used to tap the number in mobile while in the profile to see it broken down but it's not working for me lately.

If it were easier to see who upvoted or downvoted (only the most recent for each individual user to avoid duplicates caused by changing their vote) that would also be cool.

https://mstdn.social/@grickle/117241926477833522

If there is a sad story behind this group I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW, thank you

Markiplier accused of insider trading after purchasing massive amounts of GoPro stocks before an acquisition offer by an AI Surveillance Company.

According to their site they do make and distribute their $9,000 software for linux, such as the "nxbatch-1899_lnx64" build. Comparable programs such as AutoDesk Inventor or CATIA are not available on Linux.

There is a constant stream of misinformation on short form video feeds, forums, and even some large news organizations claiming that Obama and the fall of the Gaddafi regime were responsible for the return of slavery in Libya, and while I admit not having a replacement power structure and system of laws to prevent anarchy is definitely a contributor, but an archived state department document from 1996 claims that the ILO reported in 1995 that Gaddafi had been purchasing slaves, primarily women, from South Sudan after he enabled the Sudanese coup. It also details how he expelled 1,000 Palestinians and also refugees from Egypt, Chad, and Sudan for being "illegal immigrants".

https://1997-2001.state.gov/global/human_rights/1996_hrp_report/libya.html

Gaddafi was not a good person, he was a cruel and terrible dictator and like all dictators his corpse can rot in hell.

When Donald Trump took office in 2025, DOGE's head at the time, Elon Musk, had pledged to cut spending by $2 trillion

With the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created to overhaul federal spending, slamming reports that it has been dissolved, enhanced scrutiny had grown on the savings the agency could achieve during its tenure.

Addressing reports of its dissolution, the agency wrote on X: "As usual, this is fake news from @Reuters. President Trump was given a mandate by the American people to modernize the federal government and reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Just last week, DOGE terminated 78 wasteful contracts and saved taxpayers $335M. We’ll be back in a few days with our regularly scheduled Friday update."

How Much Did DOGE Really Save?

DOGE claimed billions in government savings through cancelling contracts, terminating grants and renegotiating leases. According to its website, the department reached $214 billion in savings as of November 24, estimating this to be worth $1,329.19 per taxpayer.

These savings were attributed to "asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions."

However, multiple analyses suggest the real savings fell far below DOGE's own estimates. In February, former Labour Department chief economist Betsy Stevenson said its total at the time was likely between $1 billion and $7 billion, rather than the $55 billion claimed. In August, Politico reported that of $32.7 billion in contract-related savings it could verify, the true figure was closer to $1.4 billion.

A CBS News investigation further found that DOGE had repeatedly inflated the value of cancelled contracts, including one it claimed was worth $8 billion, when the actual amount was $8 million.

How Much Was Spent in Running DOGE

Beyond questions over its accounting, DOGE's actions may have cost the government money rather than saved it. In April, the Partnership for Public Service estimated $135 billion in losses during the department's first 100 days, citing reduced productivity, repeated "fire-and-rehire cycles," and paid leave. The analysis did not include litigation costs or reduced tax revenues linked to cuts at the IRS.

DOGE was also a key driver of government job losses. In a blog post last week, Kupor said 68,000 people had been hired in 2025, while approximately 317,000 employees had departed.

When Donald Trump took office in 2025, DOGE's head at the time, Elon Musk, pledged to cut spending by $2 trillion, later revising the target to $1 trillion. To achieve this reduced figure, DOGE would have needed to deliver savings averaging $55.6 billion a month—far higher than the amounts now believed to have been achieved.