Spyke

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What are some lesser known (so no Walmart, Nestle, Amazon etc) shitty, ethically bankrupt, evil companies?

KPMG, Deloitte and Mc Kinsey, for reasons that include at times being both financial auditor and bookkeeping at the same time, and consultancy meaning reducing headcount no matter the cost.

I don't really know all that much about it honestly but all I've heard of them, is that they get the smartest people to do the worst thing that they can get away with.

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This is on a facebook story about how driving faster than 50 km/hour increases the risk of pedestrians dying

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Not your parent comenter.

I've been hit by cars twice and hit a car once and every time I've had the right of way. Tho I was on a bike, it just happens if you spend enough time in traffic I think.

I didn't really get injured on either of these, 2 bikes got destroyed tho.

I have tbf gone down pretty hard trying to overtake other cyclists which is also traffic but there it was certainly my own fault.

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Obama calls Mamdani to praise his campaign and offers to be sounding board

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The problem is more that people conflate liberal and left through Obama. Like you are doing in this very comment. If you know what left politics is it's obvious that Obama isn't part of this.

If Obama is good or bad, whether he carried some better than conservative policy, or got something done really doesn't matter because he isn't a left politician, so placing him as one will generate resistance not because everyone on the left sees him as evil, but because he is obviously not left to people who understand what 'left' and or 'liberal' means.

It's an error in categorization on the part of the one conflating Obama and left, not a failure of "left purity" on Obamas part, he never was left to anyone paying attention, at best he used left messaging and heritage to promote a liberal campaign. Which might be the second reason many are sometimes angry with him, he used left aesthetics and talking points, while in retrospect not caring all that deeply about them, which to someone starting out naively optimistic about the prospect of an Obama White house, feels like betrayal, not because Obama really betrayed them as such, more because over time they came to realize he was never really fighting for them to begin with.

world

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Germany's Left Party wants to halve billionaires' wealth

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This is rather an unfavorable reading of their position. And to nail down them being unelectable to this position, is very reductive in an environment where we have: fascists at 20%, rather turned rightward conservatives at 30%, geriatric and corrupt "socdems" at like 15, and libbed up greens also at roughly 15%. All of these are for various reasons also unelectable largely more unelectable. Weighing a further destruction of the economy, and a further rightward shift, up against an idealistic maybe naive position on foreign politics I mean come on.

The actual read of their NATO position btw. Is closer to the the EU is already a military alliance with strength, and the US (+five eyes) is an unreliable/ imperialistic partner against which the EU should also strengthen itself. Largely they see Russia as worse(or at least equally bad) for the moment, but maybe not forever. Which is what the comment above is likely alluding to.

Pretty standard socialist FP positions for Europe I'd say. If you don't get why NATO might be bad maybe brush up on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also their FP is not going to matter this election apart from being a check to the governments position, even if they were to somehow end up in one.

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Would the United States actually risk a Tiananmen Square incident?

Well they certainly could go much much worse. The regime and their base are so far from anything being based in reality I don't think anyone can truly be certain where this will go.

And you can just read about early ish days fascism in Germany and see how that meshes with this Regime and it's historical context. In no particular order :

  • Legislature ineffective and captured/ aligned
  • Judiciary captured /placed
  • Executive controlled (by proxy)
  • Intimidation / Terror Squad
  • Industry leaders largely aligned
  • Populous tired and under economical hardship
  • Extreme militarization
  • Strong and largely aligned surveillance system
  • Scapegoating / internal Enemy phantasms
  • History of ineffective Governance / Corruption
  • Generally unrepresentative and unstable Political System
  • Moderate / Ineffective International push-back
  • Unpredictable and Hostile foreign Policy

There are also lines that haven't been crossed yet but there are not a lot before we get to the really Bad ones. So yes Large scale incarceration and killing against internal resistance, or simply against the 'racialized other' are maybe already the next steps if MAGA(and the reaction to it) keeps on this trek.

There could be some kind of thing to fan the flames and lead into the big Bads including probably some external War as well.

Or there could be circumstances that stop this insanity before we get there. But holy hell Americans are way to chill about all of this currently and MAGA certainly won't stop until they are made to stumble and fall. Could be self inflicted of course but if the pressure is higher the chance of a fumble goes way up. So every resistance is worth the attempt at this point, and if the ship can still be pulled around there have to be real consequences otherwise it's just gonna be this again on a few decade cycle. I mean this shit is already worrying over here and in Germany well we seem to rhyme politically with the US of ten or so years ago so ....

For me this certainly is Fascist and we all should know how that goes if it truly gets to go.

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Is it wrong of me not giving a shit when cops get killed? They signed up for the job know what it entails. Same with Firepeople. I feel bad 4 families but no one gives a shit about Nurses or DRs?

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Cops are a few hundert years old concept why would they be necessary now when most places they barely existed pre ww1.

Your second paragraph is just as pie in the sky as abolishing, specifically because as with every position entailing power over others, authoritarians will flock to it.

The police was created so that wealth and power can effectively use part of the state for physical protection of their assets and lives, and that is still their operating background, the management of the local meat packing factory or the amazon warehouse will have much greater access to police resources than you or your plumber, by design, the law is imperfect and cops are not doing their job, more or less on purpose. And this status quo will not change unless at least some part of this system is entirely redone.

If the greater context in which the police exists, makes normal people scared of consequences, and powerful people immune to consequences enacted by police, why should any normal person argue for their existence.

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What are you up to today?

Rolled down 80km of Italian alps today on the Alpe-Adria cycling route. Probably the nicest part of the route. Between Villach and Carnia including some 50+ km of the most beautiful rail to trail I've been on. With good weather as well. Honestly amazing day.

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Rush hour traffic in Utrecht, Netherlands 🇳🇱

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Nah im not gonna carry a liter of foam around to cut a 10^-5 chance in third, you do you of course, but this risk is small enough and the inconvenience of carrying around a helmet is large enogh for me to not care for cycling as transportation.

I find the fear mongering around this topic to be supremely annoying. Just let adults ride their bikes however they want. If you try to get your child, employee, or participants in a sporting event to wear a helmet, that's completely reasonable. But assuming the vast majority of dutch cyclists to be idiots for cycling without a helmet is just asinine.

Everyone seeing cycling as a normal mode of transport is never gonna work if everyone is scared of cycling to the point of never considering it without a helmet. Mandatory helmet laws seem to be one of the most effective measures to discourage cycling, so don't try to make a bike culture that effectively acts like one.

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choo choo!

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Idk a tram is still superior in all aspects apart from purchase price. Especially maintainability being easier /cheaper on asphalt vs steel rail i absolutely do not buy. But at least these things get largely dedicated right of ways so the upgrade to a real tram is much simpler. Bus ride quality is also absolutely dogshit compared to trams. BRT and this kind of tech augmented BRT is fine if your city is just learning to do transit. It's good even. But if they have learned a bit rails will always be king for mass transit.

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Thoughts?

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These things are at most half as wide as most modern cars so no its not car sized. Its not really bike sized either sure but its not just a car. Actual bikes both motor and pedal variety alreay cope fine in city traffic these are fine as well in terms of safety, maybe not in the dessert but otherwise its alright.

Of course its cost cutting at the expense of some comfort, but I'd much rather have this or any similar aliby cargo bike delivering in my neighboorhood than vans, even electric ones. These things are speed limited and the acceleration is fairly tame as well, the driver generally has a much better view than a van, and requiring the pedal input for forward movement makes the driving a bit more conservative/safe.

These should not be on standard bike paths they are just too big for that, but on pedestrianized/ bike streets these are infinetly better than cars for anyone except for maybe the driver, and on low ish speed limit inner city streets they are also just better than cars.

It is actually progress but its also just companies being cheap of course. I do see them as a genuine city quality indicators here in the EU, if they don't exist it's a sign the urban area is either pretty small or just super car centric.