My first thought was “yeah Luigi!” but the more I think about this, the more disgusted I feel.

This is a theatrical version of crypto bros making meme coins of mistafuccyou after he killed himself. Except worse. Luigi didn’t ask for it, and he’s being killed by this same system. They better be donating the profits to Mangione’s crowdfunding campaign.

The silver lining in my head is that at least the USA can dissuade other countries from voting conservative. And if Canada/Australia take in US refugees, the progressive parties would get a huge boost in support.

Absolutely Horrible. I was already struggling due to ADHD, but since November I’ve felt completely awful. Some days I feel “I’m in the end of times” and force myself to indulge in games and food, but it never makes me feel better. Other days I run myself into the ground trying to plan some way to fight back. My next “to-do” is getting a pistol, but that’s hard in my state.

The only upside is I have felt less socially anxious about reaching out to new people. Having a real existential crisis does cause those fears of “what if they think I’m annoying” to subside.

Unless something changes, 10 years from now we’ll be hunkered down for Winter recounting the horrors with the Elmo puppet.

I’d like to know why those 2 Republicans voted “no” when every Democrat voted “yes”.

If you want to see how your representatives voted

Last I heard UnitedHealthcare was denying claims with an AI – https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/11/ai-with-90-error-rate-forces-elderly-out-of-rehab-nursing-homes-suit-claims/

I’m increasingly coming to the point that legislators are people, like you and me.

Maybe if we focused less on convincing Congress, and more on occupying Congress, we would have solved these problems… whether as Progressive Democrats or Independents.

If you don’t mind sharing - how are you getting by? Social Security? Food Stamps? Section 8? Inheritance?

YouTube has a pretty strong hold because video hosting and streaming is extremely expensive. That’s why most platforms have strict file limits for them. In the pre-Google days of YouTube, most accounts could only upload <15 minute videos, and that limitation is still in place if you have an unverified account.

I don’t see how we’ll get any alternative to YouTube unless it comes from another large corporation, though I’d love to be proven wrong in that.

Using the tools is fine IMO because the moment those tools stop working, people will move their time to Twitch/Instagram/Bluesky/TikTok/etc. 60-120 second ads will push away all, except for iPad toddlers.

Makes me wonder if Google knows this, and is deliberately adding these ridiculous ads, but not patching those tools, so they can keep their user metrics up while pushing the uninformed/indifferent into YouTube Premium subscriptions…

How might registered Democrats and Democrat-aligned Americans support Hogg in this? Is there a good way to get the message across to DNC leadership that we WANT what Hogg is doing? That Hogg’s plan is better for party in every way?

I saw ads before Christmas incentivizing people to refinance car loans and get cash in hand :<

Completely. And therefore this is an absolutely terrible way to “boost the U.S. population”.

(frantically waves hands in the air) b-but WE NEED BABIES

In Bill Clinton’s defense it was intended for the child, not the parent.

From the article: “I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time,” said Clinton, “so when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to put that down payment on their first home, or go into business.”

Personally I think the policy is a good idea, especially since it doesn’t encourage unwanted children from a short-term desire for cash. It would be great along with medicare for all, free tuition, a livable minimum wage, government housing for all, UBI…

That’s the only way anyone would financially benefit from this bill. Infanticide. And only if they do a home birth.

Free daycare and free healthcare for people under 18 are two social services that would only benefit parents. How about free college tuition moving forward?

This is just a sad attempt making an exclusive version of establishment Dem stimulus checks…

Only if every person votes solely in their own immediate selfish interests. A collective mindset is necessary for a functional democratic society.

I want to say “that’s a pathetic amount” but given how many ads I saw offering “cash in hand” for people to refinance their car loan right around Christmas… I’m not confident Americans will turn this down.