• 0 Posts
  • 84 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: June 14th, 2023
  • athos77@kbin.socialtoSolarpunk@slrpnk.net•Tell me about your projects?
    9·
    6 months ago

    One of my neighbors moved out and I’ve mostly been murdering the tiger lilies he planted in the common areas. (He said he liked them and the deer would keep them in check. The deer only ate them in the spring, and he ‘liked’ them because then his pitbulls could chase the deer. Fucker . Then one of the other neighbors’ dogs chewed on the lilies and got sick, so …)

    Anyway, I’ve replacing them with a mix of like 20 local pollinator plants, chosen for a mix of both pollinators and seasons. Trying to figure out how I can get some rain barrels in to feed the new gardens without pissing off the HOA, and carrying on the eternal battle to let the HOA let us install solar (beyond the two panels we hid in the backyard, but we can’t get any more in there).

    Common area veggie garden has finally settled in, and the apple trees should be bearing fruit in another year. [The berry bushes we snuck in the woods are doing nicely, and the local animals love them!]

  • athos77@kbin.socialtoTechnology@beehaw.org•😠Meta just showed off Threads’ fediverse integration for the very first time😠
    87·
    8 months ago

    “I know there’s a ton of skepticism about Meta entering the fediverse — it’s completely understandable,” Cottle says. “I do want to kind of make a plea that I think everyone on the team has really good intentions. We really want to be a good member of the community and give people the ability to experience what the fediverse is.”

    If I wanted Facebook shitposts and forwards from KlanMa, I’d’ve joined Facebook. And I don’t believe Meta has good intentions, I believe they want to overwhelm the fediverse, and I believe they want to make money. Middle-manager Cottle and their team may have good intentions, but corporate certainly doesn’t, and I certainly don’t trust their users.

  • athos77@kbin.socialtoSolarpunk@slrpnk.net•Any other greens feel under attack recently from democrats in the United States?
    15·
    9 months ago

    This is how I feel and how I handle it: I truly believe that allowing Trump to regain power will be the end of American democracy, and that the likely successor forms of government will be repressive, vindicative, dehumanizing and marginalizing of everyone they consider “other” - and so far, “other” is everyone who isn’t a older, white, upper-class, Christian male. [Not that you won’t be attacked if you’re an older white upper class Christian male, but if you’re young, or not white, or poor, or non Christian, or not male, they’re going to feel free to attack you.] And getting the Democrats into the White House isn’t overly helpful if the Republicans control Congress - something that’s particularly important when the Supreme Court is so conservative.

    So that’s my starting position: I need liberals (or at least non-conservatives) in every post I can vote for. How can I influence things while still maintaining those goals?

    Well, every party micro-analyzes every piece of data they can get their hands on, and every election report is analyzed for advantages and weaknesses. So I publicly contribute to Green causes and liberal candidates. I vote for Green, or DSA, or other liberal candidates in the primaries. The Democrats are harvesting my data and I want them to be fucking worried about me and my vote. I want them to look at me and say, “This person is talking to other people and maybe changing opinions, so we need to pay attention to the things that move this person.”

    And I don’t do that just subtly, I do it openly: I write letters and emails and make phone calls to my representatives at all levels of government. I tell them when I’m against a position, and why. I tell them when I support a position, and why (so many people only contact when they’re against, but it’s just as important to contact when you’re for!). I tell them when I approve of a piece of legislation but wish it went further. There’s some old estimate that every letter represents 1000 other people who feel the same way but who didn’t write in, and I try to make sure our positions are represented in the feedback they get. On and off, I’ll talk about my concerns with friends and family. I’ll also write letters for friends or family, if they want me to, give them a pre-addressed stamped envelope - but they have to sign and mail the letter. Probably only half of them actually go out, but that’s another theoretical-1000-people for each one that does.

    Like I said, I’ll vote “extra liberal” in the primaries. If my liberal candidate of choice isn’t an option, I’ll write them in. But when it comes to the general elections, right now, it’s too important to keep the Republicans out as much as possible. So I’ll hold my nose and vote Democratic then, then continue trying to influence the thoughts and policies of those that get into office.