Well, that’s one way to start the new Axis powers. The internal fascist structure could be a gamble (usually even other fascist leaders want to have more authority than deference), but I guess we’ll see how it goes.

What a thing to read as I went to take my first bite of the day.

Breakfast has been postponed.

"I apologise it was taken that way. I was with a group of friends and there was nothing serious about it.”

Haven’t we heard that enough by now to know that’s a pathetic, bullshit excuse? What you say with friends reveals something about you and how you think. The guy could’ve said nothing and he’d have been fine, but for some reason the idea of taking over Iceland was in his mind and for some reason he felt comfortable making light of it. If infringing on another country’s sovereignty is such a non-issue that he feels comfortable joking about it, he’s clearly not fit to be an ambassador. (Though as a Trump-appointee, it’s hardly surprising he’s not fit for the job.)

Trump declares himself the acting president of Venezuela.

He also thinks it’s fine to kidnap the president of Venezuela.

Well, if both those things are true…

Oh snap, you’re right. I saw that earlier today too and thought it was weird.

In b4 bUt YOu dIDn’T aNSwEr thE qUesTiOn

We need some kind of de-Redditing step-by-step manual or something. Lately I’ve been coming across some really silly arguments by people with relatively new accounts, clearly unaware that Lemmy has a different style. Some of the things that fly on Reddit aren’t going to go far here. We know we’re not obligated to play by stupid rules.

Name-calling? From me? Where?

However, the population of the earth increases year over year. At a certain point, we have to stop doing that. How do you feel we should handle that change?

Now this is a better question. I’m sure there can be sophisticated answers, but I feel like a “gestures broadly” at the state of the world can suffice. That is, population increase has been declining, and also many don’t want to bring a child into this world due to worries about the future.

Not to mention, redistribution of wealth would provide more than enough resources for each person. I’d rather take that route than try to control birth rates through artificial limits. But it seems that right now, for many people, just knowing the road humanity is heading down is enough to keep us from reproducing.

You realize not everyone wants to have 10 children, right? A lot of people don’t want any, or are fine with one or two. I grew up in a family of 4 kids and even in the 90s many people thought that was “a lot.” Nice reductio ad absurdum, though. It’s been a while since I’ve seen an example in the wild.

Glad to see you here, I was actually thinking about your situation when I was reading the part about “hidden kids.”

Every step the Chinese government has made here is absurd. Then again, it seems many politicians really don’t see the rest of us as humans, just as a mass to control. I love to see that the young women are like, “Yeah, no, fuck all of this. We’re done with you telling us what to do.”

I’m pretty sure the only posts I’ve put on Facebook in the past five years are all a version of, “Hey, I’m just checking in so y’all know I’m still alive.” I haven’t updated my personal information on there in about a decade.

I asked this same question to my older coworkers back when I was 20. The main answer I got was: travel, travel, travel! “Travel before you have kids.” “Travel before you start a long-term career.” “Travel before you buy a house.”

Naturally, being a Millennial, all three of those things became non-issues. 🙃

So let me give some advice for the ages instead, regardless of what the future may hold for you:

• Never stop learning

• It’s okay to not know what you want to do with life

• And, especially in a post-truth, AI-infested world, question everything!

Take the time to learn what logical fallacies are (at least the common ones.) You WILL encounter them, and knowing when you or someone else is using faulty logic can keep you from harm, whether it be from another person (like what we see in politics) or from yourself (like the “Sunk Cost Fallacy,” which might otherwise lead you to stick with bad jobs, bad relationships, and more.)

Tangentially, it’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” Nobody knows everything. Anyone who expects you to know any given thing (unless you’re known to have studied it, of course) isn’t someone worth the admiration of. People with realistic expectations will see you as genuine, and being genuine can carry you far.

I could probably think of more if given the time, but those are the most important things off the top of my head. I’m open to questions in the comments; I’ve lived quite a peculiar life, so I’ve got a range of experiences, from being a homeless vandweller, to being a pilot, to pivoting 90° to working with kids and making art. I’m more than happy to answer any questions that might help people out!

its pretty edgy to get yourself thrown into jail for something stupid you know will put you there.

If your highest goal is self-preservation, then yeah, it doesn’t make sense. However, protestors like this usually care about something more important than themselves. It’s what drives them to put themselves out there, knowing they could be at risk for doing so.

I’m sure we could disagree on what specific things would make sense to potentially sacrifice one’s self for, but I hope the simple idea of something being that important at all is relatable. For some it’s their rights, for some it’s their religion, and for some it’s their family, but either way, most people can think of something they consider more important than themselves. It’s that importance that compels people to defend it, despite the personal danger for doing so.

Such a silly argument. Contributing genetics isn’t the only way to influence future generations. I may not be a parent, but I (and many more people) educate others’ children every day.

Just because someone doesn’t bring a kid into the world doesn’t mean they’re giving up on the future. Individualist cultures may have people thinking that nuclear families are the end-all, be-all of child-rearing, but it still “takes a village.”

You clearly never saw me in my “edamame everyday” phase.

broke mind virus

Oooooh, I like that! Their favorite phrase, turned around and reclaimed, and made fit to highlight their damage. This needs to spread.

He joined via a video link, I’m not sure if he was even in the UK.

Though I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined via video not because he couldn’t physically be there, rather because he’s scared of being attacked.

Could well be he couldn’t go himself because all his human shields kids had playdates pre-scheduled. Who knows.

I think their idea is a good idea for freeing up sink space, but as far as decreasing the line? That’s not gonna happen.

For those unaware - those long lines you see outside the door? They extend into the bathroom. As soon as a stall opens up, the next person goes in. We’re not waiting for sinks or mirrors.

Maybe get an engineer to make like a pee-troth for women to squat along for peeing en masse

I think the word you’re looking for is “trough.” I can’t see that working out well for most women. We’d still have to take off our pants and underwear, and asking us to do that in a room full of people is more than many would be comfortable with.

Besides, it seriously underestimates how many of us are on our periods at any given time. Consider that periods last about a week and occur every month. Not counting those with medications or health conditions that prevent periods, are currently pregnant, or are post-menopausal, that means about 1 in 4 women are actively menstrating at any given time. We’re going to prefer private stalls to take care of such needs. If somebody on their period chose to use such a trough, seeing blood splattered over it would probably discourage the rest of us from using it anyway.

Yeah, stalls take longer. But they help keep private things, well, private.

That’s the way they divide it at the building I trained for my job in (which isn’t a unique facility, it’s just where the training room is located.) Adults there have two bathroom choices - stalls, or urinals and stalls. The stalls are real stalls that actually provide privacy. There’s no gender requirement for either and it works fine for the dozens of people who work and train there. The kids still have gendered rooms, since they are at an abundantly curious age (and some parents have gender requirements for who diapers/potty trains their kids, especially the little girls.) We can honor parents’ wishes for their kids, but as adults we can still choose which grown-up bathroom to use for ourselves.

As a bonus - there are white noise machines in each bathroom, which helps decrease awkwardness across the board.

I don’t wish for ignorance, but sometimes I do watch wild creatures and think, “What a life. Find food, find shelter, find partner, lay eggs/babies. Pure biology in control.” Some deep part of me is massively jealous that I can’t give in to what my ancient genes want me to do. Being able to fulfill my basic needs is subject to the whims of capitalism.

Though not having to tolerate parasites and disease without medicine, not having to die right after mating, and having access to modern air conditioning are pretty strong perks of being a human.