Damus
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nostrich
@nostrich

I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.

The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.

Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.

So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.

But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)

Relays (1)
  • wss://relay.ditto.pub – read & write

Recent Notes

note1kkpa7...
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@nprofile1q...

But that letter is meant to be PR, persuasive, not solid reporting of what happened.

I see accounts like this, though:

"The spending estimates for the Department of National Defence include funding for Operation Unifier, an armed forces training mission for Ukrainian soldiers. The Conservatives voted against approving that estimate." [1]

Voting against etimates that included spending for the program may not have been the vote against the program that is being portrayed. I was looking for more solid evidence of that.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/late-night-house-of-commons-carbon-tax-1.7052741
Prof. Rachel Thorn πŸ‰πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈπŸ³οΈ · 18w
I often write about #USpol, but until today, I had never thought to browse the hashtag. Friends, that is not a high-quality hashtag. Lots of nonsense, conspiracy theories, incoherent rambling, and mi...
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@nprofile1q...

I think it's partly because Fediverse users have often actively and explicitly sought to reject folks of those different mindsets.

SO OFTEN I've seen talk about how this is supposed to be a safe space to get away from people with alternative perspectives.

And yes, there is also some blocking going on. Folks are proud of who they block to maintain their echo chamber here.

Without the pushback from different perspectives, the conspiracy theories and rambling are feel to thrive.
Kevin L., sanity is overrated. · 21w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqzwzcgjztdn95g0cnkk0z9mz393xzzc4c69qqp78350sy83lfrjxqjdawd8 I’m not completely 100% sure of this but I believe #SCOTUS actually used that phrasi...
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@nprofile1q... a lot of people get this backwards (a lot of reporting gets it backwards, so that's understandable).

SCOTUS didn't really say corporations are people. It often said the opposite in its rulings.

BUT

Confusion (and political rhetoric) comes out of a legislative shorthand, a term of art ONLY in the context of drafting legislation, where legislators say when we use the term "people" in a statute we normally include corporations just so we don't have to keep repeating it.

That's the long and short of it. People are told this shorthand is meaningful, but it's really not.

@nprofile1q...
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I've said #NoKings is terrible branding because the other side gets to just say, well right, we don't have a king. It's so easy to brush off.

So what are alternatives?

Well I think I would start with No Felons off the top of my head...

#USPolitics #Trump
note1svtdl...
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@nprofile1q... Well, different people have VASTLY different views about what Social should be about or what experiences they want. Some don't realize the tradeoffs they're making.

For example, I personally hate the Twitter-style microblogging format specifically because it impedes deep dives. Other people insist on it without necessarily realizing they're losing the deep dive.

Or the person might simply be apathetic to deep dives in the first place.

That's at the technological level. On the social level, folks who hate Facebook-style platforms don't develop the durable connections that engender deep discussion.

In short, a lot of people make technological and social choices to avoid deep discussion, and while that's not my style, they have to follow their own paths.

Personally, I like to see technology that empowers people to make that choice.
2
#FreeSchool <---> Hashtag · 33w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq70vth99f30mk0s683wkxkhdhraxkmnyc5a8nw9p2046jz8ztdnpsm8l5uu I believe I hear you but what I hear above that is someone of that kind of person waiting for tech or others to do the social work... is what is almost impossible, We / you can only do t...
#FreeSchool <---> Hashtag · 32w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq70vth99f30mk0s683wkxkhdhraxkmnyc5a8nw9p2046jz8ztdnpsm8l5uu I read my reply again and perhaps wasn't worded or in paragraph order but I like the idea we as pairs of people or small groups can do our own thing and use whatever we do like (rather t...
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Listening to #C-SPAN covering the #NoKings rally in DC, #BernieSanders is giving his speech and completely misrepresenting what the legislation before the Senate includes.

Can somebody please poke Bernie and have him actually read the legislation that he is voting against? He's holding up funding for the federal workforce, holding up all of those paychecks, based on his misunderstanding of what the legislation actually says?

He is a very powerful person who is harming a lot of people and putting it on display right now. Maybe it's time for him to retire. Maybe other powerful people need to stop propping him up.

But mainly, we need to call out powerful people like Sanders who are really doing a lot of harm to a lot of people here.

If he's unable or uninterested in understanding the legislation that he is supposed to be working on as part of his job, then he needs to step down, not promote misinformation to his echo chamber at these silly protests.

#USPolitics
Rita, antifascist 🏴🦯🦯🦯 · 50w
β€œIf the Supreme Court officially makes the chief executive a unitary executive, the advancement of the public good may depend on little more than the whims of the president, a state of affairs norma...
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@nprofile1q... No, that's not how that works.

The advancement of public good is a negotiation between Congress, which has to give permission, and the executive, who has to actually implement policy with permission of Congress.

The Democratic representation in Congress remains a vital, vital element of the US government even as the president heads the executive branch.

So that statement is absolutely wrong. It absolutely misunderstands how the US government works.
MikeDunnAuthor · 50w
SCOTUS is leaning toward a ruling that torture of children is protected free speech. They are currently considering the case of a Christian therapist who claims that a Colorado ban on the scientific...
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@nprofile1q... that misses the argument here.

It's NOT that torture is protected free speech but that talking to people is not torture.

As for the science, it's not the role of the Court to judge science. They're experts on law, not science, and often times poor results come out of courts wading into matters of science.

The Court is to apply the law as they receive it.
Bich Nguyen :verified: · 56w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq70vth99f30mk0s683wkxkhdhraxkmnyc5a8nw9p2046jz8ztdnpsd0r7g7 nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpqdg499t2jtuunfjnqtc4flhvv48w05m3ujczxuy8enr9vcxd9mqsqwf3t7p The principle is embedded in the First Amendment, non? "Congress sha...