On one hand this is an elegant solution that is already in use in Germany for years, if companies want to implement it that is. But I think only Sony’s Playstore uses it. Or so I have heard. No US company wants to use it and I am sure they will lobby to get more data from users than a token if this gets rolled out EU wide. I am skeptical about this.
That’s the story the US keeps telling us ever since to explain away their own atrocities but it isn’t backed up by any data whatsoever. It’s pure vibes so we don’t think about how insanely inhumane nuclear weapons are. There is no evidence nuclear bombings were a major factor in the decision to finally surrender but it’s a fact they were already losing hard before the bombings. It was a matter of time, not a matter of atrocities.
Imperialist Japan needed to be defeated for a greater good. I firmly believe that. That doesn’t make nuclear bombs a necessary evil, however. It’s just evil.
I’m the last person to defend China but this is just moronic on so many levels. China has been hording oil for a long time and it wasn’t an issue before. But now that the US started an absolutely senseless and ridiculously stupid war in the most incompetent way imaginable they demand stability? Yeah right. Shut up.
If it was only nukes then one would’ve been enough, no? In fact we don’t know if Japanese generals even believed nukes were real when Japan surrendered. We know that some of them simply didn’t believe it, however.
Also Soviets to the North preparing a full scale invasion. Japan watched Germany being sliced up and knew it was over. Better to be ruled by one superpower than be divided by two of them.
Napoleon. Yes, it’s a little oversimplified but that man really shaped Europe and Germany with it.
in America, apparently if you crime hard enough and big enough they stop putting you in prison and start patting you on the back and calling it good business sense.
There’s a story about Alexander the great capturing a pirate and scolding him for raiding villages along the coast line. Alexander asked if the pirate feels ashamed and wants to beg for forgiveness. However, the pirate had something else to say. He said that Alexander was doing the same thing, but infinitely worse. The only difference was that Alexander called himself king and plundered entire lands while the pirate only raided small villages. The pirate reminded Alexander of the many lives he had destroyed in his conquest. So the pirate’s only crime was not to be the biggest baddie in the hood, so to speak.
Alexander replied by stating that the title of king forces his hand and that he couldn’t just stop what he was doing. The pirate on the other hand was just an individual who could easily change course. And so Alexander set the pirate free, stating that he himself will start changing his own ways right there and then if the pirate makes a fresh start first.
I don’t know if there is any truth to this but it’s a fable often used to explain how legitimacy changes the perception people have of wrong doing and heroism on a fundamental level. Alexander’s reply sounds like an excuse and I think that’s on purpose. The pirate outwitted him in the end by stating a basic truth.
No doubt there are bad actors polluting communities on the Fediverse as well and I’m not feeling quite as optimistic as the author here. But they’re absolutely right about the corporate side of the internet. The mainstream that is controlled by the rich and driven by greed. You need FOSS to have at least a good base you can build on top of. Profit oriented platforms have failed us as a society.
We knew how bad the situation was economically but we also knew sanctions would have a much delayed effect. Economists have explained that plenty back when it seemed sanctions wouldn’t do much at first. As far as I’m aware, Russia transformed into a full on war economy since. That delayed things even further but it will make the fallout even worse for the country. Putin really doesn’t care if Russia even still exists when he goes down.