I hope you’re right. But the ideas of ancaps are going to do the exact opposite of preventing corruption and budget misuse. In fact it’s going to make it much easier. Since the amount of money that the government receives through taxation is not going to go down much, while many programs are being dismantled and privatised. Just textbook neoliberal stuff, the government is going to have to spend more money on privatised infrastructure while social programs, healthcare and education are squeezed. Or worse, privatised and only available when profitable.

Privatisation doesn’t get rid of corruption or budget misuse. It does place it outside of democratic control. If its the rules that need to be changed, there is absolutely no need for ancap ideology. If the rules aren’t helping now, dismantling the government isn’t going to change anything. They either need to be changed or enforced.

Anyway, I think it’s very predictable what policies he will steer towards and since there is an economical crisis, finding support for big austerity measures, isn’t going to be difficult, I assume.

It’s a reference to an attitude that is prevalent in conspiracy fantasy circles. It’s a deflection of ownership of ideas to lend them more credibility, it’s not actually about researching anything. There is no discussion about research conclusions or facts. there is discussion, but it’s the exact opposite of research, it looks like, what questions give the right answers and how to connect the conclusions to the data. What they mean by saying ‘research’ isn’t what it actually means. Conspiracy fantasy wants you to stumble upon coincidences to lure you into their worldview.

Nah. It’s more about inherenting eating habits than genes. Also it’s much easier to gain weight if you’ve been obese during your youth. Eating is also an unhealthy coping mechanism for a lot of people. Genes is probably on fifth place if not lower.

A good dietician will limit your fat intake, because that is where most of the calories come from and where cholesterol is. Sugar is also problematic but only in refined form, and in fat people. The theory being that it’s fat that limits the response to sugars, I’m oversimplifying but this theory is at the heart of the sugar/fat debate. Dieticians aren’t debating this, mostly health gurus and doctors online are. The research into health versus diet is very clear and very much understood. Less processed food, more whole foods, less animal products, more plants. (fruit, grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts and seeds.)

And yes I do agree that the availability of healthy food is very limited and that understanding how or even what a healthy diet is, especially from consuming social media, is hard. The food industry is a multi billion profit industry, there are a lot of conflicting interests. But heart associations, diabetes association, association of dieticians, world health organisations, and many more are screaming from the rooftops. So it’s also not impossible to figure it out. But if you’re left to the almighty wisdom of ‘the market’ you’re fucked. Yes, it’s hard to stay healthy and skinny.

That’s why we call it a condition though, not a disease. People have a right to make mistakes, right? We can call the consequences of mistakes, conditions. Lung cancer from smoking, a broken arm from mountainbiking, tennis arm from leisure activities. Life choices can lead to conditions, regardless of their perceived healtiness.

It’s the only way I can listen to music in my car. I could upgrade, but I don’t need to because I have the jack.

Fuck you. Use a reputable source.

Tankie gaslighting in action.

Sounds like a lot of work

It’s considered a positional stalemate, and that is politically advantageous for Russia. Both parties have been able to set up considerable defensive positions, making progress extremely costly. Both parties are still fighting for progress nonetheless, where Russia has the most trouble achieving it and Ukrainian forces are making small gains (field by field) on a consistent basis. But knowing that the frontlinie is many miles deep and there is intense trench warfare to make a few yards progress… There will be no swift or decisive victory on either side.

Putin has most of his followers convinced that he is fighting nato backed nazis. So even when Russian war tactics are brutally inefficient and the losses in personell and equipment are enormous, there is little internal political backlash. Internationally the conflict is seen as a regional dispute. Since Ukraine isn’t a part of a large international alliance. Western sanctions on Russia aren’t as impact full as they could have been.

It’s looking likely that the war in Ukraine is going to last a very long time. With guerilla attacks on Russian territory becoming more likely and higher in frequency. Russia doesn’t have the equipment left for large scale invasions, doesn’t have the money to create meaningful reserves. And the kremlin needs defensive power in other places along its border.

European and western sentiment is that Putin will not stop until the old ussr borders are back under his control. And being securely and unquestionably positioned as world superpower.

It’s going to open a tab in the browser while closing the app. That’s more trouble than I wanted.

6k euro for an education that I could enjoy, find employment in and be happy. 12k for the education I really want, it’s some obscure hyper specialist training on a European level (hence the cost)… I was close to finding an employer who was willing to help fund it. But I couldn’t get enough money together to make it work. Anyway, hoping to start next year with a new job in the field and work my way up, until I can afford it. Money would mean a significant shortcut in my career.

In order to make the break light visibly stand out from the light bar that goes across the back of the car, they turn off two sections of the bar on the left and right of the centre, leaving a portion of the light bar lighted in the centre.

Normally car manufacturers treat the light bar as a running light, and they add a seperate ‘third’ brakelight. Clearly at Tesla they didn’t want to alter the design, and this weird solution fits the wording of the government mandate. It doesn’t fit the spirit, but they got away with it.

And it’s ironic because in every other bit of safety, like crash protection, rollover protection. Tesla is a leader in the market, their cars are incredibly safe. Tesla really cares about you when you bought a car, they don’t really care about safety in general. Sums up Musks attitude.

There is less light during braking instead of more, or brighter.

Skirting awfully close to a nazi boycott! Luckily the nazis will probably understand it was freeze peach. They know as no other what it means to disavow.

Musk is playing 3d checkers and saves free speech once again.

True, my dad calls food “spicy” and breaks out in a sweat when I put black pepper on.

While sure, there is leverage, but it’s not like Spotify is being arbitrary about their content. I can listen to obscure stuff, and I do. Also don’t forget that big artists are often big for a reason and it’s usually not for a lack of talent, taste just varies but certainly there always is a market for ‘pop music’.

And we’re the pawns

Inaction. Like everywhere else, a lot of things go wrong but aren’t acted upon for too long because of political impotence or incompetence. Which paves the way for populist sentiment. Netherlands now has a housing crisis, a nitrogen crisis, employment shortage and then there is global warming, inflation and war in Europe.

Things we knew were coming and the sole reason the government didn’t do anything was because of the neoliberal idea that the market will solve all problems through the magic of capitalism. This has been true for the past 3 decennia now.

Our saving grace is the EU and many policies and money coming in has been touted as solutions offered by a lot of populist in the east of the EU. Giving them an air of legitimacy. But of course the EU is also the entity that has been spreading the neoliberal ideals and open markets, a single coin. So easy to paint the EU with negative side effects as a boogeyman. Just don’t mention the positive and don’t offer solutions.

The problem is that far-right populist never have solutions because they see most of the problems coming from within a corruption of culture. So they often ignore fundamental systemic solutions because they are themselves functioning because of the system they are in. Fixing things is directly undermining their right of existence. So a feedback loop is inherently present.

Once you’re in it’s extremely difficult to get out.

Look I share the same frustrations. And true change can only come from political actions. Laws, oversight, fines, taxation, enforcement… Leaving change to the market isn’t a solution to anything. We can’t consume our way out of this problem.

But that’s also not the point of our conversation, I’m trying to make clear that as a consumer you still bare responsibility over what you consume.

The problem is when people throw their hands up and just ‘get what they need’ mindlessly. That’s also a choice.

When we can make choices that are clearly better and more ethical, we should. So it is on us to do the best we can, within the system we find ourselves in. We should strive for systemic (political) change outside of consumption, as well. One doesn’t get nullified by the other.