@SuneAuken As is yours, Sune. And I agree. Plus I think there is more of a handle on blatant misinformation. It gets reported and taken down much faster. @stux

@potatosandwichjen Yours is coming up two days after mine! @stux

@NatureMC ditto! Right back atcha

@ghost_shit @stux you just made me blush!

@CAWguy right back atcha

It's coming up to my 4th year on Mastodon.

Four years of a much happier SM experience.

Thank you to my admin, @stux and to the wonderful people I follow. You have made my life much richer, kinder, and more interesting. #anniversary

@SuneAuken I think this is not only true, but vital to keep repeating.

It's far more constructive to take the position "our side has a lot of work to do" but the other side is an existential threat.

This posturing as above the fray, beyond the need to push your own camp to be better, fosters disengagement and apathy - which serves the fascists. Exactly as it did in the 1930s.

Had those on the left held together in Germany, history would have been very different.

@SuneAuken Meanwhile, I think saying that 90% of dems are okay with this hate is an exaggeration. But it is fair to say that few openly and forcefully speak out, and an embarrassingly large number do indulge in at least a certain level of compartmentalisation. Mostly out of funding fears. That and the horror of being accused of antisemitism which might result in death to their careers.

It is not a pretty thing.

@SuneAuken While I can absolutely see your point here, I think intention matters.

I do not think this drives people into the arms of Republicans, but I agree that this quite common demand for absolute alignment on every issue drives apathy.

And apathy is what is really at play in the current deterioration of many flawed but progressive ideas and institutions.

And this... this is evil

And yes, I'm using the word very consciously.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2026/oct/22/how-alabamas-republicans-are-disenfranchising-black-voters-video

Of course, if you enjoy making other people anxious about you, that's because you do not feel loved enough.

1. No one is ever loved enough. That's the human condition.

2. There are better ways of finding out you're loved.

And before you say that the vaccine doesn't make you immune, and you can still spread it to others....

Yes, this is true. But your case will be milder, and shorter, and you won't be shedding so much virus.

Be a good person - to yourself and others. Get your vaccine.

@wilpercy There's a small spike happening here too.

If you are thinking of skipping your Covid jab this year, because it wasn't so bad the last time, just consider for one moment the anxiety you can save other people who care for you from having to worry about you when you get it again. Or worry about you infecting them.

Or do you like making other people anxious about you?

I'm feeling a little crabby.

On a positive note, I just got vaccinated.

@rachel I am not a programmer, I just had a couple of Word Press websites and even I know what PHP is.

How badly is the BBC paying these days.

@vruz @passenger

" the generic anti-AI sentiment is born out of fear of the unknown, and extreme conservatism"

wow. Okay, we disagree profoundly.

"It's something that flips in people's minds as some kind of defence mechanism."

The very same thing could be said for people who avidly use chat bots and do not want to stop doing so.

@vruz @passenger Voice recognition existed long before AI

@carbontwelve I think the emotional aspect of this is really quite important to consider. I like the cake mix analogy. Because, baked into it (forgive the pun) are two things: profit and the hegemonic definition of what a cake is.

@jbqueru @mfeir Please feel free to say whatever comes to mind. It doesn't have to be perfectly formed. Ideas are ideas. Worth airing out.