Makes you wonder about how most armies and soldiers fail to see what and who they are supposed to be in service of. It's this part of the article that struck me the most...

"Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters," the soldiers at the base in Soanierana district said in a video posted on social media.

They called on soldiers at the airport to "prevent all aircraft from taking off" and those in other camps to "refuse orders to shoot your friends".

"Close the gates and await our instructions," they said. "Do not obey orders from your superiors. Point your weapons at those who order you to fire on your comrades-in-arms, because they will not take care of our families if we die."

Bravo. These are true soldiers. Not the cowards holding guns in uniforms like in most places.

What's this?? A politician in a position of power taking a stand on a principle with integrity?? Especially these days?

How did he sneak in?

They're usually not allowed in the establishment.

Hmm... Suddenly I can't trust him anymore. That's how fucked I am with the political class. Like, immediately it just pops "what's his angle besides some PR glow?" - that's where my mind goes instantly.

It's exhausting...

My kind of heroes. People who seek to better the world without seeking attention while doing it.

And there's an app to help contributing to openstreetmap.

Here's a link to it on f-droid...

https://f-droid.org/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/

And how many people kept warning everyone of this and for how long?

I am a bit tired of the lack of foresight. In reactive vs proactive measures people only seem to understand reactive ones.

I've been telling people about the dangers of the lack of digital sovereignty, in relation to nations, communities and individuals for I don't even know how long. As many many others have for even longer.

It's as if one keeps telling someone to fix the fissures in the hull of their boat while on shore, but they only seem to understand what you mean when the boat is leaking through these same fissures at sea.

It's only then that it starts to sink - pun very much intended.

By that point it's too late. And the outcome might be a tragic one.

It's the same with the environment.

It's the same with their own health.

It's the same with everything.

One doesn't need to ponder about this for very long to pinpoint that this is because the absence of reference is what makes it harder to acknowledge it. Because one has a harder time understanding what one doesn't have a frame of reference of, and then the subsequent dismissiveness ensues.

The great tragedy of all the proactive efforts is that when they are successful, something has been avoided, and therefore unseen.

We register rescue, not prevention.

And it's only in the rescuing that the understanding of what could have been avoided starts to be perceived. Not everyone is like this, but most people seem to be.

But I don't know how as one gets older, sees what might be a cliff ahead and finds only reasoning for a faint downslope.

And I no longer care to know if it is due to denial, laziness or ignorance anymore. Because I'm quite exhausted of this.

Uh, and what is this we're on right now?

Not to mention Mastodon, Pixelfed federating with Mastodon already, Friendica, Peertube etc...

The powers that be don't like the Fediverse. It's not possible to control and averts direct monetization. They know that if it keeps growing, it keeps reverting the internet back to its initial potential that was stolen from all of us. They don't like that.

Remember when the internet was a good thing and not the gated hell that it is? I do. If you don't, they'd like to keep it that way.

They don't want the general population to know that the internet can be from everybody to everybody. Then people might ask for tax funding to go to server maintenance to be cheaper or even better free to anyone who would want to use it. Like a highway? Yes? Remember when that was one of the analogies for the internet? The building of new highways that would connect us all?

"We can tax fund highways instead of gates and tolls" - they can hear it already. And oh they don't like that. Not one bit.

They want American Social Media, but you know, European. The same but ours.

But if it mimics theirs it will be just as terrible, regardless of where it comes from. Look at how the U.S. is imploding. Does it matter the social media is "theirs"?

"But the E.U. has better regulations and will do a better job."

Do we want the folks that brought us a hit like Troika to be in charge of the entirety of the platforms in which their direct citizens can express themselves? Do we want to give them direct influence to crush dissidence? Have we learn nothing?

Yes, I prefer the E.U to the U.S. The E.U. works better, because the countries that are part of it can actually check its influence. Well, when they can. But the true reason why the E.U. really works is because we have worse things to compare it to. And that is a terrible way to build a future.

We have to imagine a better version of the world if we're to build it. And right now, we are in a sliver of the internet that shows that it is indeed possible. Regardless of odds and issues, it is possible.

I keep saying for a while that Precision Fermentation is the future. Because if it isn't, that probably means there isn't one.

Using the lowest trophic level possible to grow our sustenance directly is the only way to ensure the least destruction possible. Which ensures the most environmental and ethical efficacy. As there should never be anything to distinguish between them in the first place.

The "Fully Functional" is something that the most level headed adults that I know, men or otherwise, would refute on the spot. I don't think I know anyone who feels like a fully functional person. Or an adult for that matter. As that is an elusive concept to begin with. Although, that doesn't mean one can't find ways to mature.

I'm 40. And the thing that I'll say is that kids and younger people have it harder these days. The world is in a state of unprecedented cacophony, in which the previous existential threats that loomed over the previous generations are all stacking up to form a massive sense of unease.

Whichever adult, men, woman or other, that claims they have it all figured in the face of increasing calamity is lying. Possibly to themselves first.

The men who feel the way(s) that you mentioned, are not wrong in feeling the way they do. They can only be wrong in how they act in response to it. Because from time to time, we're all bound to feel like that at one point or another. And unfortunately in some circumstances and contexts that might be more persistent than others.

The great failure of our time is not that men, young or not, are failing more, but that we are all failing more. Because we are all failing each other. Some more than others, obviously. But even so, we're failing to reach one another at some point in a growing secluded world.

You can eat your greens. Go to the gym. Earn income that allows you comfort. Find a partner. And even have a child...

And still feel all the things that these "men" do.

The point of maturity is to not make others pay for what burdens you.

And the only escape out of that isolated space is not the "self-improvement" route that the fraudulent will try to coach others. As that is just maintenance.

The way out of loneliness is in service of others. Which has always been the the case and will always be.

Trying to find a way out of loneliness by trying to find a romantic partner to "fix that" is just offloading the burdening responsibility to another person. And regardless of sex or sexual orientation that will always lead to a toxic dependency and a relationship that never ends well.

I'm a 40 year old dude. I have a home. I get to do what I'm passionate about. I have a partner that I live with and I love her. But if anyone comes knocking for advice, I tell them that if they're looking for easy answers, they're looking for lies to comfort them out of what they already know to be true... That life is complicated and none of us really know what we're doing while we're roaming this earth.

But it sure is a whole lot easier when we're kind to one another. And that is about the only certainty we're gonna get before we die.

Everything else is noise.

What a Fucking Legend!!! People such as her should be our icons. Not the plastic ridiculous people that the legacy media and the algorithimc social media keep pushing out like clowns to the circus floor to keep people distracted.

Sue Parfitt. Let's remember her name. In fact I'm gonna save this post.

And while I'm not one to support religion, between her and the reverend that gave that sermon to Trump's face in church, I would say "Lady Priests" (apologies for the reductionism) are having a moment and showing the cloth that apparently only the women in it seem to remember what "their calling" is supposed to be all about.

If anyone knows the name of the woman that gave that sermon, tag it under. Please.

It's not about supporting the church, it's about giving credit where credit is due.

In fact, we should start making a record of the people who are raising to the occasion these days all over the world, and taking the moral stand and give them the space and the limelight, instead of allowing everything to be about the shitty people doing their shitty deeds. That takes so much of the bandwith as it is, and makes us feel alone in the face of it all.

Be it about the atrocities being committed in Gaza, Ukraine, the U.S. or in any place where wrongful actions are occurring, let us make visible the people that raise to face it. Let us put forward the faces and voices of the ones who still truly give the word "humanity" some of its supposed meaning back.

PS: A lot of people here might not be able to read Spanish. But I do and I really liked the article you linked. It was a really nice complement to the one linked in the post. So, thank you for sharing it.

This year I had to euthanize a cat I had the pleasure to have in my life for almost 14 years. I saw her come into this world right out of her mum, and I was there when she died. Afterwards, we brought her from the veterinarian and buried her in my mother's backyard.

She had late stage cancer. I never knew when was the right moment to say "it's time". The fucked up part is that we can't get verbal confirmation that "this is it" for them.

She could barely walk or breathe by the end and I didn't know if I was being selfish or if I was stealing time that she still wanted to have. It was brutal. Everyday was just one more day that I wanted to say goodbye.

And then one day I saw her struggle so much to breathe and said "it's time". The meds didn't work anymore and I couldn't ease her suffering in any way anymore.

That moment still sounds far off with your beloved friend. Treasure those cozy and snuggled naps they love to take and be kind to yourself as you navigate it all.

I'm Portuguese. And I see a lot of people here celebrating their failure in these local elections. But I'm just not that optimistic. The fact is that they still got a lot of sits in a lot of local assemblies. This means they become endemic to the system. Everywhere. This wasn't a barring out the fascists parade people are making it out to be. Unfortunately. They are even celebrating the fact they even got a few (very few!) number of municipal sits. And why shouldn't they? It's a party that didn't even existed ten years ago.

I'm glad that they very much failed by the metrics and polls that were so publicised in advance. But by no means this is a failure to them. And unfortunately so to the rest of the sane people here. Because now we have to deal with the same fanatic mentality of Maga Cult followers and even get the American slogan with it of "Make (insert whatever) Great Again". In Portuguese, obviously, but I kid you not, when a lot of us saw that shit in Billboards we knew that it's the same movement now. And they're not even trying to disguise it anymore.

This is a financed global movement that is seeking to implode democracies so that the definitive version of Neo Feudalism of corporations has no hurdles or obstacles in their way.

NeoLiberalism died with the fall of the illusion of the center in the west. Now let's see how long does the common voter (everywhere!) takes to realise how the board is being redrawn to cripple their sovereignty and control of their own lives and the social freedoms they fell asleep on because they took them for granted.

We're no longer at odds with capitalism and its perverse incentives. Capitalism was the ladder that allowed the new "feudal Lords" to rise to dictate the rules of an old game rebranded new. Now name it whatever pleases the most... "Neo-Feudalism", "Techno-Feudalism", "Conglomerate-Feudalism", doesn't matter to me. But folk, don't think we're still playing the old "Landlord Game" or more famously known as "Monopoly". That's been over for a while. And the feudal powers at bay are no longer disguising themselves as landlords and investors or capitalists anymore. That's over and done.

Why is it always the kind of person you think it's gonna be? I mean, always. One can match the level of inconsiderable idiocy from car models alone.

Imagine knowing you're wrong and persist and insist this much in continuing to do the wrong thing in front of everyone, so that everyone can behold the thing that everyone knows that is wrong for you to be doing, and you still continue to do the wrong thing that you know that everyone knows that you know that is wrong to do. No? Hurts your brain, doesn't it?

Now... Why is his license plate blurred in the video? Does this level of inconsiderate behaviour deserve that level of consideration in return?

I already said that I'm going to refuse to sit down with people wearing these if they don't put them away when I ask them to. If they are not going to respect my sense of privacy and that I do not want to have spyglasses pointed at my face running surveillance for one of the most corrupted conglomerates, then I'm going to leave.

They can all keep their "Cambridge Analytica Scandal Glasses" to themselves and their friends who do not know when they're tasting boots.

And no, I don't even use WhatsApp. Nothing Meta has been in my life for quite a while. And it's a fundamental right that I shouldn't be forced to participate.

Is anyone else's Dreamcast yellow now?

I bought it in the year it was released and it was used quite a bit (euphemism) back then. But I dug it from the closet it was stored in and now is yellow. Remote control and all. All the consoles stored along with it still look the same. All the older ones looking the same as they always were, but Dreamcast decided to have that "we're fucking old" moment with me. Haven't tried turned it on out of fear of mortality being the next reminder it has in store for me.

As sad as it is to admit this, an American pope is the kind of ally that the world needs right now. I commend his stance to speak so clearly against the grain of his following and in-group, defending facts and science in the process of pursuing a better future to all of us.

Now, we know that the fake Christians of the Maga Cult in the U.S. will dodge this pope as a "woke compromised asset", but to a LOT of Christians and most catholics around the world this will act as a beacon that will make a diference.

As to if it will be enough of a difference? That remains to be seen.

The pessimist in me doesn't believe so. But I would love to be proven wrong. At least in minimising the foreseeable outcomes. Which is the game we've been playing for quite a while now.

I've been barricated in my room with the Air Conditioning for as long as it is possible over the last few days.

And while it brings me some relief, it also burdens my conscience to know this relief is also contributing to the problem that makes seeking this relief necessary.

Just shoot me already.

Isn't it ironic that the "let's protect the children" crowd allows the children of their base to be the most abused, molested and sexually assaulted?

More than any other group and without creating any repercussions to the institution that harbours the highest percentage of verified pedophiles.

Last time I checked the numbers, 6% of Priests have engaged sexually with a minor. That's numbers that even shitty Hollywood can't even compete with.

Is this a warning? I hope most of you have spotted this sooner than this article seems to have, because this has been going on for quite a while.

There's even been articles uncovering far right groups financing influencers and youtubers as a way to sever through culture.

And I keep saying that "Gamergate" was the true opening of that avenue into the mainstream almost a decade and a half ago. That was the time to spot it. By the time that "kermit the frog impersonator" and the "no chin alpha" showed up on the public radar, the problem was already unfolding wide and around for a while.

And I have a suspicion that what started Gamergate was just some good old sport trolling that then turned into... well... the opening of the gates of hell.

Obviously that I have no way to confirm this.

But I still have some fun imagining those who were indeed just trolling for some dumb fun back then, now aged with their scruffy beard and hair greying, holding their knees in a fetal position muttering to themselves "What did I do?"- and yes, it's kind of fucked that I find that funny.

But I also keep saying the same thing over and over...

This is not just an American problem. This is everywhere.

If you disagree, I suggest you take a stroll through Europe...

You can start with Portugal, and the ridiculousness with the party Chega and its circus of followers, moving next to Spain with Vox and their own clown show, then France and don't tell me you haven't even heard of Marine Le Pen. Just take a look up from there to Britain with good old Brexit and the tumour Nigel Farage with the cancer that is Reform. What about Italy? Anyone thinking that Georgia Meloni snuck up on Europe must've been in a coma during the Berlusconi years, because the orange blob as president is just a terrible American remake of that Italian classic. And Germany, did it elude anyone the fact that AFD scored the second place in the elections and is even polling in first now, apparently? I could keep going, but we should stop before we get to the Balkans, right?

"Well, that's just Europe and the U.S. then."

What about Australia, with Peter Dutton and the crazy brand of fascism they have going down under? Or Canada and what the hell is even Pierre Polievre who was all set to win? Yes, these two did lose but not by much and the type of fuel they ran on is still there to burn.

This is a problem that is everywhere. And what creates this madness is that there are grifters who are willing to say whatever it takes, that take problems that affect almost everyone except the elite class, but then single their message across to a particular subset of the public which is too uneducated to understand the rest of the conversation that everyone is trying to have. And because the indignation is something that so many others can join in on when there's so much to feel angry towards, the menace spreads wider as a result of a compromise to meet the end they desire.

But this second wave of rage that joins in has the logic that if there's things that need fixing in one's household, the best is to burn the house down, apparently.

And the really sad part is none of this is new.

Socrates thought that elections were too important to be handed to a general public which was too ignorant to understand its functioning or its true value. And who was it that believed that there was a need for a lie to "deceive" the population into doing the decent thing? I can't remember which of them said that. (If you do, please do tell) But that was what many found religion to be the method to accomplish it. As ludicrous as that might sound.

It's just the same loop of the revolt of the idiots. "My pain is truer than yours" type of nonsense.

On and on.

But if anyone knows how to make the arrogant humble and the idiot know their idiocy, please do tell.

Because you would've made the greatest discovery in human history that would break this seemingly never-ending loop.

They want everyone's private data to be accessible and actionable. It's not even about avoiding the hassle. It's about you not being able to avoid them.

Now, think about how much they could use this to crush dissidence and prevent assemblies of protests or worse, jail people because they criticise the government.

I got nothing to hide. By today's standards. If it changes, and criticising my country's government becomes a legal offense, then I would be a criminal. So would most people I know.

This is about control. Surveillance is always about control. It's disguised as a necessity through the paranoia that those in power help veiling over us.