Photuris

We don’t want pentagon officials to be handsome for television.

We want them to be competent.

The wealthy people who can’t afford to own Disneyland are closer to you than they are the people who can afford to own Disneyland.

The ironic tragedy here is that the new MAGA GOP is going to destroy and dismantle public education, citing the “failure” of public education to meet the needs of our children, even though it was a Republican policy that crippled the system in the first place.

This is it. We’re a Narcissistic culture, and it’s getting worse.

Republicans really do destroy everything

Buried memory unlocked

Good.

The establishment candidate might not be Harris next time. My point still stands, whoever it turns out to be.

It’s fine to complain, though. We are not a cult. If the establishment candidate wins the primary, we’ll dutifully vote for that candidate in the general, and then complain about that president-elect for the next four-to-eight years, and try to pressure them on the issues that matter to us. And that’s a good thing.

There is nothing “shocking” about this.

We already fucking knew what was going on.

Y’know, if America had a constitutional monarchy, it might actually work out just fine. Let Trump be the king, so he can rant, do ceremonial stuff, be in the news all the time, have his fans, cause controversies, &c.… meanwhile the real elected government would be quietly busy attending to the people’s business.

People don’t “want to work.” They want money. It’s just that working is the easiest way for most people to get that.

Well, thanks Captain Obvious. Statements like that are technically true, but how helpful are they for contributing to a conversation?

Shit, I’d vote for that person, too.

Alas, I have zero interest in running for any public office.

Funny, that: with notable exceptions, of course, it’s generally the busy-body, loud-mouthed, ideologically-possessed control-freaks who seek any sort of political power. Sensible people tend to mind their own goddamned business, until the politicians and wingnuts force our hands to finally get involved.

Some people want to rent (e.g., young people, people with mobile jobs, or people who just aren’t ready to be tied down to one place).

And I don’t have a problem with a small-time property owner renting out a house at a fair rate. In theory it’s a win-win: the renter gets a place to stay, the landlord builds equity in their property.

The issue we have is two-fold:

1. Companies buying up massive amounts of property (not just a house or two, but thousands) and turning entire neighborhoods into rent zones, driving out any competition and availability of housing to buy, thereby driving up prices.

2. Price collusion amongst these companies, driving up rent far above fair rates, using these software services that share going rates across markets. That reduces consumer choice.

Barring a really interesting solution, like a Land Value Tax or something, my proposal to remediate this housing problem is rather straight-forward and simple:

1. Prohibit these software companies from sharing rental rates info to customers. Landlords just need to figure it out in their own markets the old fashioned way.

2. Prohibit corporations from buying housing with the intention to rent it. Force these corporations to sell their housing and get out of the landlord business.

3. Allow individuals to hold property for renting out, but cap number of properties a person or household can own for the express intention of renting out to five at any given time. That allows a person to build up a nice little savings nest, and provide a rental property to someone who wants to rent, but doesn’t allow anyone to dominate a housing market. Look for those massive profits elsewhere - start a business that creates and provides value.

Anyway, one can dream, I guess.

And we don’t even use them effectively to protect our rights.

Do not obey in advance.

Humble men are preferable to proud boys.

I have fond memories of self-hosting a qmail setup for a long time, then eventually migrating to a postfix configuration, back in the day.

Keeping up with spam filtering finally did me in.

The old references are the only ones I understand anymore.

AI and autonomous drones enters the chat.