When were those days, exactly? I’ve studies a hell of a lot of history, and I can really only point to two moments:

1. The American Civil War, but we were both the good guys and the bad guys there, so doesn’t really count.

2. WW2. We fought against fascism. We were squarely on the side of the good guys.

I’ve never been alive when America was the good guys, and neither has the vast majority of anyone else.

There’s really only failing, then learning, then death

My kids have me listening to way too much Disney music lately…

In a magical hypothetical world where we could make this happen without it being absurdly cruel to the animals, I’d love to see it.

That’s not a species of animal. That’s the living embodiment of a fundamental force of nature. No mortal, man nor beast, can defeat one.

Cannabis

I think a grizzly bear or a polar bear would take it. Any other bear it’s going to the gorilla.

Optimistic of you to assume any of this will end in 2028. Trump and his fascist goons are already priming the electorate to accept a 3rd term. He’s not going away until he’s dead.

Is this the showdown we’ve been waiting for that will finally definitively prove we’re no longer a Constitutional Republic?

I guarantee you there’s going to be a fuck ton of obnoxious fascists on Reddit and Twitter quoting the fuck out of Jackson today.

It all needs to get a lot less complex and confusing. I know the complexity is a byproduct of the defederated nature of the whole thing, but it’s also the primary thing limiting growth. The fediverse is never going to grow to anything other than a tiny niche if it isn’t immediately understandable to people who have 0 background in tech.

I’ve been voting for 12 years longer than you and that’s the same for me in general elections. The way I see American electoral politics, you vote for who you want in the primary. They end up losing to some shitty as corporate stooge. Then you vote against the fascist in the general election.

2004 Primary Elections (it was a presidential year, but there were more elections than just for president). I was actually 17 at the time and still a high school senior, but the law in my state was that if you were going to be 18 for the general election you could vote in the primary. I’ve voted in every primary and general election since.

Yes, of course it is.

Like any privilege, having ‘pretty privilege’ doesn’t mean your life isn’t difficult or that you don’t have problems. It just means that your looks aren’t one of the things contributing to those problems/difficulties.

Well, whatever it is, when I was a toddler my parents mentioned to my pediatrician that I loved eating hot peppers (apparently I would just grab them off the shelf in the grocery store and chow down. It was a bit of a problem for my mom because I wouldn’t wait for her to pay, or so goes the story she likes to tell). The doctor told my parents that I don’t have receptors to detect capsacin. I haven’t had it independently checked as an adult. Maybe they were mistaken or my parents mis-remembered what they were told.

Regardless, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced what you refer to as feeling like getting maced while sneezing or laughing. I haven’t been directly maced before, but I have been in a crowd that got pepper sprayed. It burned the fuck out of my eyes and lungs, but I didn’t notice it anywhere else.

One of their commandments is to not “take the Lord’s name in vain”. Modern Christians have interpreted this to mean not using the word ‘god’ as an interjection or swear. What was actually meant by it was to not use god as a justification for things that do not comport with god’s religious teachings. You know, like claiming god says you should hate trans people, or that god has chosen you personally to be in charge of everyone. You know, the exact thing Christians do all the fucking time.

It is, in fact, possible to quite smoking. I was a regular smoker for a decade. My fiancee asked me to quit, so I did. Haven’t had a cigarette or vape since. That was over a decade ago.

Yes, it’s difficult, and not everyone is able to quit as easily as I did. But don’t pretend like it’s impossible to quit.

Because second-hand smoke doesn’t exist…

Second hand smoke isn’t a biohazard? It literally causes cancer…

I’d argue the hate come after the “practical” reasoning. They target a group for various reasons (as a scapegoat, to create the illusion of progress, to steal resources, etc) then create an intellectual framework to justify their targeting of the group. The hatred comes out of that justification.

Rather than “god damn” I usually say “gods damn”. I’m not religious at all, but I’d rather someone mistake me for a polytheistic pagan than a Christian.