Why?

The internet at large is still a cesspool.

The only difference is who is in control of it.

Removing outside sources of information? There are a few countries that already do this, and they’re not great places to live.

Been using facebook groups for a long time. It’s generally better than many online groups because people often use their real accounts, business accounts, or other identifiable information that helps keep bad behavior to a minimum. Also the groups I participate in tend to be heavily moderated so bad behavior and spam are near zero.

With a couple firefox plugins and some vicious “x”-ing of every ad FB puts in front of me, FB is pretty enjoyable and useful. Always the caveat - my use and participation is the product, it isn’t “free”, and I’m always aware of that.

In the deepest of ironies, the Allies set Germany up post-war to do a far better job with their governing and constitution (yes, yes, nothing is perfect!) than the US can do with it’s own. Especially with the critical and analytical eye on its own history.

The US just keeps sweeping everything under the rug called “When America Was Great” while ignoring the parts that were racist, colonialist, etc.

A doomsday cult set up as a religion so they can dodge taxes.

Some inside perspective:

You are talking to staff or an intern. You might be the hundredth call for the day. They’ve heard all kinds of shit, from long-winded conspiracy crazies to the most courteous and intelligent calls ever. Yelling at them or being a jerk will get you nowhere. Be prepared to state your case clearly and concisely. Your concern will indeed be noted and logged.

Do not call a congressperson that isn’t your own. They are not required to listen to you, you are not their constituent. Do not write a congressperson that is not your own. The letter is almost guaranteed to go straight into the trash.

The best letters go on the intern break room fridge to be enjoyed by all.

Even so, unfortunately the congressperson may not act in a way consistent with the majority of people’s calls and letters. Thank money and power plays in politics for that.

Could it not be both?

I deleted Threads five days ago.

It was a cesspool of (Russian? Troll Farm?) propaganda attacking Harris for not having any accomplishments for the last four years, complaining about housing, grocery, egg, and gas prices, “fixing” America, a crapton of pro-jesus stuff, pro-Elon comments and reposts, government money going to “illegals” instead of hurricane victims, and a ton of made up lies. …

All of which were as transparent as fuck why they were wrong. VP’s don’t make policy, so what accomplishments should she have? Housing has been going up for a decade+, it’s not new, egg prices were normal while the pics were of organic egg prices and expensive grocery carts had hidden high cost items or just straight up lied about the cost, gas prices are the lowest they’ve been for years. Jesus stuff praised trump, America, tons of AI generated “holy” trump pics, bashed atheists, posted Elon’s BS pseudo-wisdom, Ignored the $20Bn spent on hurricane relief in favor of a few hundred million housing the undocumented workers living in the affected area…

It was infuriating. Because they were so obviously wrong…blatantly, in-your-face, completely fucking wrong. It was a constant flood of lies. Eight out of nine posts were BS.

But as soon as the election swung in Trump’s favor…poof…it went quiet. Hardly a peep. Gone.

And I realize that Threads was captured completely by troll farm bots spewing right-wing propaganda. And it was a waste of time. So my account will be deleted.

You bought coach, business, or first. Those were your upgrades from coach. There were no “tiers” in coach like coach “plus” or whatever extra legroom or no checked bag coach is called these days.

Seat pitch was the same for everyone.

They would charge more for window or aisle, that’s been a thing for a really long time.

Dunno why you got downvoted. Shit’s expensive. We’re doing pretty good, but live in a very plain, 60 year old home, no new cars, but we do manage a decent vacation once every other year or so. I don’t understand the “carefree” attitude being described with a $100k salary, we have to budget, plan expenses, and any big bills are still a surprise and an unhappy event.

We don’t live in major metro area, or even in the suburbs of one.

I would have felt pretty much the same way. And eaten the food anyway.

And that’s how they get those fees. Effective, isn’t it.

The 777 is 375-ish tons, and the A380 is 630-ish tons.

Yep.

The US won’t be there for them anymore once trump takes the reins.

Ukraine, and potentially anyone in NATO as well, will have to fend for themselves.

They believe it because that’s what people have been told to believe.

It should be glaringly obvious that trump’s implied policy that he will let Israel “finish the job” is far worse than the dems poor attempts at negotiating cease-fires or any other moderation on Israel’s aggression.

All the propaganda has focused on the democrat (in)action regarding Israel. Zero on trump’s plans.

That’s what the propaganda machine has been pushing.

I imagine it’s a good but of fun for the band to be “discovered” again.

Unfortunately your likeness isn’t protected. There may be certain circumstances where you can prevent it from being used, but it’s an uphill battle.

Ignorance is bliss.

Took my first drive as a passenger in a FSD Tesla the other day. I was rapidly underwhelmed. I mean, yeah…it’s pretty cool the car drives itself, to an extent. But even as a passenger I was struck by the number of times I would have taken the wheel and made the car do what it was supposed to. Hesitant pulling forward to turn, hesitant pulling out into traffic after a turn, wrong speed for the road, abrupt turns… Did it get us there? Sure. Did it do a good job? Mid at best. Probably better as an anti-fatigue measure on highway drives instead of taking you places in town. I would not pay for FSD were I to own a Tesla…at least it seems really inappropriate for the kind of driving I do.

But Tesla will gladly keep charging a lot of money for FSD.