In terms of what the article is arguing, you could just as easily swap in the term ‘society’ in place of ‘the economy’ and the rest of the facts hold true.

Blue states are far from perfect, but they drastically out-perform red states in terms of health, education, income and environment.

Can someone explain to me how four years into the Biden administration, the USPS is still saddled with that Trump-era turd?

They’re neither feckless now cowardly, but something altogether much worse: owned by the uber-wealthy who stand to benefit most from re-electing Trump.

Barbaric, and needlessly cruel.

Every day just brings more and more evidence as to just how little Netanyahu and the IDF think of their Muslim neighbours.

It’s a way to reframe the argument from a vote FOR a milquetoast candidate, to one AGAINST a would-be Dictator.

Know that none of the 3 possible options for voters will immediately stop Israel’s current terror campaign on Palestinians and the Lebanese.

Instead, all it does is set up the future environment and Government whom you can influence the actions of. Only ONE option provides an opportunity which could reign Israel back in, and it sure as shit isn’t a possible 2nd Trump administration.

America has what I like to call ‘Monkey’s Paw Democracy’; almost as if someone wished for a representative Government from a cursed object.

Now instead of voting for policies they like, voters are forced to vote against policies they dislike or risk being punished my having their rights slowly chipped away.

But they’re the wrong type of brown people, so they hardly count. Merely collateral damage in the search for more beachfront property hostages.

This is the correct answer; after the whole USB 3.2 Gen 2 2x2 (hands of blue) bullshit, I wouldn’t trust that team to name a park bench in the middle of the desert. Let alone something important and universally used.

While this is definitely an interesting proposition, for most people in the US wouldn’t something like Mark Cuban’s CostPlus drugs website be a more reasonable solution?

More volunteers for the Ukrainian ‘Special Operation’!

Have Samsung & Google actually delivered 7 years yet - or is that still just a promise on paper to continue supporting existing products?

Apple for all its faults has at least delivered on this premise.

That sounds awful; hopefully you were at least able to poison their DB with a fake name and a 10minutemail (or similar) account?

Ideally, yes - but until share buybacks are outlawed - companies will just ‘reinvest’ by buying up shares (increasing their price, and thereby existing shareholder wealth), and issuing them as bonuses to their C-suite in lieu of payment… by-and-large avoiding a lot of the income tax that they would otherwise be due to be paid.

Our current late-stage capitalist corporate system is built upon layers and layers of tax-avoidance and self-enrichment at the cost of society as a whole.

Custom OS isn’t going to address the anaemic hardware, nor do I think relying on open-source custom ROMs for a niche item is the best way to ensure any hardware-level vulnerabilities are covered.

If you already have an Internet-connected device hooked up to your TV (eg. PlayStation); there is no need to connect another, especially when it provides an overall worse experience.

Shit, a basic HTPC is infinitely better - using a Linux-based distribution (which will have a lot more support vs. a niche TV ROM), and it’ll be supported well beyond what the hardware could handle.

I also agree, but I view it more as ‘I bought a TV, and that’s all I want it to be’.

I don’t care about the built in software features foisted on me because I wanted an OLED panel; simply because they are going to be abandoned within 1-2 years, are powered by some anaemic chipset that is already multiple generations behind what is already available in my TV stand; and will likely end up as an attack vector to my network some period down the road.

The article mentions that TV manufacturers make ~$5 a quarter from selling your data. So those ‘features’ aren’t even free, they come at the expense of your personal information, privacy and likely security as a result.

So to quote a famous Dave Chapelle skit: “fuck ‘em, that’s why!”

Because it’s not actually necessary; leave the TV isolated from the internet and use a set-top box (Apple TV, Shield, game console) as the media player.

It varies a bit by state, but it usually only applies to new builds now: https://firsthome.gov.au/

It’s so incredibly messed up.

I think that the primary reason that anyone not standing to directly profit from the current system opposes universal healthcare is selfishness; they’ve worked hard to earn their (probably shitty) health insurance, and giving free health access to those they deem ‘undeserving’ devalues their own efforts.

Never mind the positive economic impacts; they wont move the needle. It’s like that one MAGA supporter said when interviewed; “they’re not hurting the_ right_ people”

Having experienced this kind of policy in Australia; it’s great in theory - but the issue is that builders/sellers just ended up jacking up the prices of their homes to absorb the grant.