Kermode

Older than dirt linux guy in northern bc canada (near the alaskan panhandle). he, him. Not quite lefter than left :-) Co-ops python #bash #rust #kde #solarpunk ... bunch of geeky stuff. Getting rusty 🦀. Also fishing. Former Amiga dealer. Linux 1994. Posts auto-delete weekly or they'd number in the thousands - I'm yappy. b.1960
Hashtags that I like:
#lichensubscribe #Mosstodon
Actual Join: Apr 2017
#fensterfreitag #hydroponics #aquaponics #circuitpython he/him

Anon/Schenkl/TildeRadio: https://radio.gemlog.ca/
News & Bookmarks: https://gemlog.gemlog.ca
GPG: https://keyoxide.org/hkp/E80714EBCD51BCD24B5011CB03CF739E2F5469A8
54.52, -128.60 UTC -8: Террас, БК, Канада

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npub1ljecjm9w96aeajc336d7lplfksjrdlw0f80x253uyk0uctaln2ts86ql7a

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gemlog_at_tilde.zone@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs0evufdjhzawu7evgcaxl0sl5mgfpklh85nhn92g7zt87v97le49cprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqal0pc

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relay.momostr.pink

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npub1ljecjm9w96aeajc336d7lplfksjrdlw0f80x253uyk0uctaln2ts86ql7a

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2026-03-18T06:03:21Z

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Last Notes

2026-03-19 22:51:25 UTC

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It's not only those kinds of things.
Reducing or removing environmental protections are a Big Other.
The USA is going backwards in time and in short order.
https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/blm-announces-plan-to-fell-oregons
And on mercury, CO2, lead... USians are right screwed.
And lots of other things. The misinformation on vaccinations will kill and maim many USians in the coming years. Health and safety, medical coverage, unions, food stamps - nearly any advance in USian society since WWII is being rolled back - especially 80% taxes on the filthy rich to near zero, while increasing the tax burden on the poor to pay for the USA's military-based economy.
I'm much closer to it than you are, and I'm watching an implosion into autocracy I think.

2026-03-19 06:49:37 UTC

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More than one geek I know on here writes that A'i' stagnates his thinking. The pathways fade.
There is no 'i' in A'i'. It's simply predictive. It's reflexive to call it a predictive spell on drugs, but...
Here is a great comment I found a bit ago.
**Best description of 'AI'**
Drew Kadel @npub1h95…qefv wrote:
"My daughter, who has had a degree in computer science for 25 years, posted this observation about ChatGPT on Facebook. It's the best description I've seen:"
> Something that seems fundamental to me about ChatGPT, which gets lost over and over again: When you enter text into it, you're asking *> *"What would a response to this sound like?" If you put in a scientific question, and it comes back with a response citing a non-existent paper with a plausible title, using a real journal name and an author name who's written things related to your question, it's not being tricky or telling lies or doing anything at all surprising! This is what a response to that question would sound like! It did the thing! But people keep wanting the "say something that sounds like an answer" machine to be doing something else, and believing it *is*> doing something else. It's good at generating things that sound like responses to being told it was wrong, so people think that it's engaging in introspection or looking up more information or something, but it's not, it's only, ever, saying something that sounds like the next bit of the conversation."

2026-03-19 06:06:58 UTC

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I think you're up early. I haven't even gone to bed yet! :-)

2026-03-18 18:39:18 UTC

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There's a fair amount of criticism on the wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Corporation_(certification)?useskin=vector
It's still a good idea, but it needs to be public regulation and not private. That's great.
The page mentioned the European Commission, but I couldn't find anything using my meta search engine or their own built-in search. I did get one hit from yandex, but the page was 404 at the commission.
@npub1wd3…fe2c @npub1n8r…xvk9

2026-03-18 17:37:17 UTC

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There must be some way to stop the amoral appetites of corporations. Clearly, I'm not clever enough.
If one legal mechanism created the problem then modifying it or adding a new part should fix it no?
Like how the GNU Public License enforces moral behaviour.
@npub1n8r…xvk9 @npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-17 22:51:16 UTC

**What would the world be like if its ruling elite was insane?**
> The most powerful class of institution on earth, the corporation, is by any reasonable measure hopelessly and unavoidably demented. The corporation lies, steals and kills without remorse and without hesitation when it serves the interests of its shareholders to do so. It obeys the law only when the costs of crime exceed the profits. Corporate social responsibility is impossible except insofar as it is insincere.
https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/joel-bakan/the-corporation/9781780337418/
We need to remove that legal fiction of personhood! Corporations should not exist. 'Incorporated': latin - to 'give a body to' is ridiculous.
Our world would be a much, much better place without capitalist corporations!!
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-17 22:37:27 UTC

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Or, sadly, think Sweden, which was the same, until the right wing woke up...
"That is actually capitalism. "
What I'm proposing is not.
The distinguishing feature of capitalism is enshrining limitied liability in a fake personhood. That is what needs to go!
@npub1n8r…xvk9 @npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-17 22:33:35 UTC

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Thank you sir.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Braudel?useskin=vector
Basically, I'm just pilfering an education from you, one post at a time!
🙂
@npub1n8r…xvk9 @npub1wd3…fe2c

2026-03-17 22:30:13 UTC

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or underestimated its time to collapse?
@npub1n8r…xvk9 @npub1wd3…fe2c

2026-03-17 21:43:40 UTC

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IMO, 'tweaking' the system will never work.
Capitalism was only introduced a few hundred years ago and it needs to be abolished: remove the granting of personhood to a piece of legal fiction with no morals and only greed as a motive for 'existence'! It's straightforward!
We were doing business just fine before that moment in history. People may still combine their funds for larger enterprises.
Maybe our resident economics and politics prof
Having unaccountable greed enshrined in the law is ludicrous and proven to be harmful.
@npub12pw…zvxn may know why this tragic, historical error can't be undone?
@npub1wd3…fe2c

2026-03-15 18:33:35 UTC

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXyGyqPikKM
Who wants to go back to those days, when this was 'normal' for women?
@npub1lzu…7fs8
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/116/234/611/876/376/989/original/90661b4bccabba40.png

2026-03-15 16:18:40 UTC

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Pretty sure you were a geek before you met us! :-)

2026-03-12 16:23:21 UTC

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But didn't the tabloid employee misrepresent the context and abuse his confidence - as such people are wont to do?
I don't remember exactly, but it made more sense when I read the full story.

2026-03-11 03:04:10 UTC

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I think we are in a different head space?
I like this one that we are in now.

2026-03-11 03:02:42 UTC

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what does 1990 have to do with it?

2026-03-11 03:01:44 UTC

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I run galene.

2026-03-11 03:00:36 UTC

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I have not used that yet. Only irc/com.

2026-03-11 02:56:16 UTC

@npub1fp0…54p5
Yes, we have had the best of a metre a day for two days in a row, just not lately. I think 7-8 years ago.
I wish my head worked for lisp/guile and friends, so we could hang out, but...

2026-03-11 01:30:06 UTC

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It's the Pareto principle. I fought like hell against a casino in my town.
80% of the profit comes from 20% of the people and the bulk is even less than that for the poor bastards caught up in gambling.
Just the other day one of our young housemates had to move out.
Why?
He went to live with his grandparents, because that 24 year old is 10k in gambling debts and can't afford rent and groceries.
Obviously, the capitalists won and I lost. There is a casino in Terrace, BC, Canada.
Fuck
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-11 01:25:04 UTC

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Naw, naw - not you. I was sure you'd be sensibly mathematical about it.
I was just venting! :-)
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-11 01:10:13 UTC

@npub1mqd…gc2v
OK. Um.. you may correct me.
Until I was nearly 30 years old, all I could claim was the edu of a 12 y.o. I could just fix things. Who I am.
I did write the actual provincial exams, did some college and first year sciences, but very late in life. Board repairs and coding came first. I'm just backwards.
Anyhow, it really bothers me when I see people buy multiple 6/49 tickets. Why are you hucking money away?‽‽
How I look at the problem, please tell me how wrong I am:
Initial condition: you don't have a lottery ticket. Odds are *nearly* infinity to one against you, because you may find a ticket or someone may gift you. In the case of the 6/49, nCr1 tells us that your odds are nearly 14mm to one, if you buy a ticket.
So.
(not quibbling about which def. of infinity)
If you buy a ticket for 2 or 3 or w/e dollars (IDK), then you can bring the odds down from infinity to one down to *only* 14 million to one!!
Well!
That's a big deal.
Infinity:one down to
14mm:one
Awesome.
Put that in your back pocket and dream my son.
But, you could spend more.
You could buy another ticket.
Now you are
14mm:2 instead of 14mm:1
Oh my.
and then they buy twenty tickets.
Now they are at 14mm:20
I just want to hug them. Stroke their hair, pat their hands...
Poor things.
[1] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/maths/ncr-formula/
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-03-10 22:13:39 UTC

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Well, that's nicely alliterative and it does match his ugly mug, but it doesn't actually tie him in the same way tangerine tyrant works to immediately identify the target.
Or (and this could be), there's something I don't know about him. He's so odious, I spotted him on first sight, so I've not been interested in anything about him.

2026-03-10 20:01:46 UTC

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You should give him a clever name like Tangerine Tyrant.
The less his name is mentioned the better. Just deprive him of oxygen.

2026-03-06 21:02:40 UTC

**Against Financial Imperialism: Economic Sovereignty in West Africa**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3SxQeWDFg&t=1340s
With *Radhika Desai Geopolitical Economist*
@npub12pw…zvxn do you know of her?

2026-03-05 05:58:54 UTC

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You do get up *very* early in the morning Professor! :-)

2026-03-03 08:08:57 UTC

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You could do that for just a day no?
@npub1xxq…uv50

2026-02-23 01:01:21 UTC

How are you @npub1e6y…96nu
?

2026-02-20 01:35:19 UTC

**Where are we on Mark Carney?**
Not comparisons to any of his predecessors. Just him. Really. Just limit this thread.
What has he done well or badly or even failed to do?
edit: too late today, but I wanted to read @npub1pz3…dwqw 's opinion.
I don't imagine that @npub12pw…zvxn is paying much attention to canada, but I'd value that opinion as well.
Come daylight! :-)
All our time zones are different.

2026-02-19 20:00:57 UTC

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Brand new to me!
I know I went to lots of clubs in the early to mid 80s, but I never heard this. Mind you, they were all in rural western canada - we probably just weren't cool enough.
Soul II Soul - Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) (Official Music Video) ft. Caron Wheeler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB54dZkzZOY
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-02-16 19:53:52 UTC

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The canadian government has called for an end to letter deliveries and denmark has already done it. Maybe you're next.

2026-02-16 19:37:56 UTC

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That's interesting - does your average UK-er fancy the UK as a global power still? I was born there, but the sun has set mate! Now I'm canadian, which is about as far away from being a global power as one can get, so I ain't sayin'... :-)

2026-02-15 23:46:38 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
Well.
I'm now on SE03EP05 of Fisk.
First show I've watched beyond a few installments in years.
I've really enjoyed w/e sense of humour this has been and I'm a bit sad to have run out of shows.
The writer/director is wonderful.

2026-02-13 07:56:00 UTC

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Looks like they're going to go with w/e 'wero' is (I'm in Canada, never heard of it):
> The European Payments Initiative, a consortium of 16 major banks and payment processors including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Worldline, launched Wero in July 2024 as Europe’s answer. Built on SEPA instant credit transfers, Wero lets users send money using just a phone number — no IBAN, no card, no intermediary.
@npub12pw…zvxn

2026-02-13 06:46:45 UTC

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It's not looking good down there at all, at all.
Now, I was looking at some numbers yesterday.
Since global tourism is up 6% and USA tourism is actually down 7%, does that mean, roughly, they are down 13%? Or something in between?
I know, I'm back in your first year class again! :-)
But, generally, with Europe moving off the USA credit cards, the digital infrastructure, the government borrowing, the overall fleeing of the USA's volatile markets and policies... it's gotta begin to hurt a lot soon.
Wait until they try to harvest this year with many fewer migrant workers. I thought it would have fallen over by now really, but their inflation is only inching upward.

2026-02-12 22:44:48 UTC

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Even back in the 80s, when Canadians and USians didn't even need passports to cross our borders, even when *maybe* every 3rd or 5th car was even stopped and asked for ID, even when many border crossings didn't even have border guards, even then I felt some trepidation when crossing into the USA.
They had so many levels of armed LEOs with poor reputations and much more violent, gun ridden crime than in Canada.
Today?
You literally could not even *Pay* me to go to the USA for any reason. Masked, armed thugs roving the streets kidnapping people, no due process, concentration camps, executions at sea and on the street, no-knock - heck, no warrant! searches and seizures... It looks like a living hell down there these days.
And I'm an old, CIS, white guy.
I can't imagine being a young, brown trans or immigrant. Or double down and be a trans or gay brown immigrant in the USA...

2026-02-12 22:30:12 UTC

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Good! This follows on to that new credit card idea then?
**Europe’s $24 Trillion Breakup With Visa and Mastercard Has Begun**
https://europeanbusinessmagazine.com/business/europes-24-trillion-breakup-with-visa-and-mastercard-has-begun/

2026-02-11 03:27:41 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
Oh no...
I know she writes it. I know she directs it, I know she's just playing a part, but I'm so... cringing for her in the first episode of S03E1 of Fisk that I had to turn it off!
I'll get back to it, but... the poor woman! I mean character...
This is why I can never watch horror movies or violent things.
I will get back to this though, after I take an emotional break.
You know, there was an episode in 'The IT Crowd' that you may have seen, when Jen is tricked into giving a talk about the internet being in a box... I turned it off. I just didn't want to 'feel' her (not even really a person)'s humiliation. It wasn't until years afterward that I learned that her audience had sucked it all up and that she was a hit! :-)
Yeah, I'm a wuss. Just a fragile idiot really. [ shakes head ]

2026-02-07 09:05:44 UTC

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Are 'Your Party' or the 'Greens' getting anywhere?

2026-02-06 22:48:55 UTC

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I just d/l'd alll of season one! :-)
It's mildly funny and the charachters are well developed and mostly endearing.
It's funny about this coincidence. We each discovered it.

2026-01-29 22:37:01 UTC

*Brilliant new political ad from the UK's Green Party with leader Zack Polanski.*
**How We Make Hope Normal Again- Green Party Political Broadcast 2026-01**
https://peertube.klemtu.ca/w/ppZwZ3QdqC9Tqd8Mvd6Wkk

2026-01-28 02:25:25 UTC

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I never wished an image had an alt more than I do this moment. Priceless!!

2026-01-13 21:11:36 UTC

Privatization in France - anywhere really.
INFO FRANCEINFO. Moyens alloués, besoins des
citoyens, concurrence du privé... Ce que révéle un
rapport accablant sur I'état des services publics en France
> INFO FRANCEINFO. Means allocated, citizens' needs, private competition... What reveals an overwhelming report on the state of public services in France
La destruction minutieuse des services publics comme projet politique. Un dépegage en régle du pays.
> The meticulous destruction of public services as a political project. A systematic dismantling of the country.
DETRUIRE LES SERVICES PUBLICS :
MODE D'EMPLOI
> DESTROYING PUBLIC SERVICES:
> INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
1) Réduire le budget des services publicsReduce the budget of public services
2) Suppression de postes dans les services publics car la budget a été réduitElimination of positions in public services because the budget has been reduced
3) Se plaindre de Ia baisse de qualité et drefficacité des services publicsComplain about the decline in quality and efficiency of public services
4) Face a sa dégradation, réclamer la privatisation du service public preuve que le public n'est pas efficaceClaim that the degradation of public services is proof of government inefficiency and so privatization is needed
5) PrivatiserPrivatize
edit: to explain, I saw the original in the French and I redid it in english.
#NHS @npub12pw…zvxn
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/889/824/461/823/379/original/acb326c0d778dc66.png
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/889/834/543/797/111/original/67cf494a991f627d.png

2026-01-13 21:03:35 UTC

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Now, couple that with:
**Fertility rate hits record low in England, Scotland and Wales**
*ONS figures show total fertility rate fell to 1.41 in England and Wales in 2024, while Scottish rate was 1.25*
Without looking, I believe the rate needed just for replacement in a western society with decent health care is 2.3. Without immigration, a population less than 1.6 is doomed.
Well, perhaps that's what 'They' want?
And this isn't only the UK either, of course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_countries_by_total_fertility_rate&useskin=vector
The columns are sortable.

2026-01-12 07:34:38 UTC

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why can't it be both?

2026-01-06 20:14:59 UTC

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These are the know places the USA operates from militarily. I was astounded back when I learned there were this many.
Mapped: Every Known U.S. Military Base Overseas
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-every-known-u-s-military-base-overseas/

2026-01-06 00:57:23 UTC

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You don't think King Trump or Prince Vance want the whole world?

2026-01-05 07:59:56 UTC

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Question: Does the USA even have any allies? It ignores NATO, employs punishing tariffs against all its trading partners, threatens annexation hither and yon, and reaches into other countries with its military at whim for economic advantage and to support its corporations. And just keeps threatening: Mexico, Columbia, Iran...
That doesn't sound like a country with many friends to me.
What kind of country does that sound like to you?

2026-01-05 06:04:09 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
US-backed right-wing Military Coups in Latin America
Cuba, 1952
Guatemala, 1954
El Salvador, 1980
Honduras, 2009
Nicaragua, 1980s
Panama, 1989
Haiti, 1959, 2004
Peru, 1962, 1975
Dominican Republic, 1965
Venezuela, 2002
Bolivia, 1980s
Paraguay, 1954
Brazil, 1964
Chile, 1973
Argentina, 1976
Uruguay, 1973
this post has all the text.
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/840/946/337/866/091/original/28dac65dcaebcc24.png

2026-01-03 01:35:08 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
https://www.thegist.ie/the-gist-capital-crimes/
As usual, the role of the modern police are to protect the rich and their property. They are not there for you.
Watch them in the USA during 'occupy' for e.g. - I had *no* idea there were so many different levels of LEOs in the USA. It's insane!
Or demos in the uk.
You can demo and protest, but 'over there', out of the way. Do not, under any circumstances, disrupt commerce.
Be quiet about it.
Yeah, I know, two separate things, but related.

2026-01-02 21:15:48 UTC

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Why then wouldn't the bad actors simply perform a higher number of shenanigans below the threshold and stay under the radar?

2025-12-30 22:25:20 UTC

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Meanwhile, over in Canada, sometimes the A&E just puts up a closed sign! And here in the north, where is the nearest emergency room after that? Two hours away? My health region is comprised of 600,000 km2 and 300,000 people. It's sparse.
> 2025 Year in Review: Province sees unprecedented number of ER closures
*We are heading into the end of the year with over, roughly, 250 temporary closures this year*
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/12/24/2025-year-in-review-bc-emergency-room-closures/
Where is all the money going‽‽

2025-12-24 12:33:27 UTC

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It's Christmass. You are given a magic wand to fix our economy/soc/pol.
Any 3 changes.
What do you do?

2025-12-22 19:06:34 UTC

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I've just been listening to this over the past couple of days:
**Debt: The First 5,000 Years** *David Graeber*
It is an hour-long talk, plus questions afterward.
One of the recurring themes is a jubilee when all debt is forgiven. I think that's only personal debt?
He said that a model was run by, I think, Goldman-Sachs as to what would happen to the economy. The model predicted a lot of financial turmoil, of course, but it was less damaging than simply waiting for the whole house of cards to collapse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIINXhGDcs

2025-12-18 22:06:49 UTC

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Enforcing slavery, repressing unions? - that sort of thing? Yeah...
Just being flip, sorry. Not part of any proper discussion.

2025-12-18 21:21:13 UTC

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Reading the first 3 paragraphs of her wiki page, actually made my stomach twinge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Mone%2C_Baroness_Mone?useskin=vector
One never really has quite enough privilege does one? :-(
Disgusting.

2025-12-18 20:39:07 UTC

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The latter. I was thinking more of e.g. Peelers and Pinkertons - the more 'modern' uses.
In canada, the RCMP is, of course quasi-military out of the gate and before with the NWMP, but I'm increasingly horrified as I see video from down south, france and many other places at the sheer number, weaponry and tactics that are brought to bear on nearly any large gathering.
On more than one occasion I've actually thought "Is this a joke?" when looking at what would appear to be masses of men cosplaying StarWars storm troopers.
I'm not an 'abolitionist' so to speak, but I do have problems with their number, weaponry, how they are deployed and other issues. As well as how they self-select - even normal people don't deal well with that kind of power over others.
As a kid of 12 living in the streets of the downtown east side of vancouver (that is not the best side of that town by the way), I've seen seen some things...

2025-12-17 23:31:24 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
Just for sport, have you ever thought about the origins or our police service or the requirements for it?
You, being you, it's likely that you have more insight and refs than I do.
Me being me :-)
I do have stuff, but, despite my age, I know I'm still no different than one of your first year's coming in.

2025-12-17 00:19:24 UTC

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Thank you!
From now, until I pop off, that wonderful image will show up hourly now and then on my left monitor with the weather and stuff.
@npub1r8w…9e6n
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/732/032/158/535/110/original/ee7642e446f38e53.png

2025-12-15 11:41:31 UTC

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> Anyone looking at the USA & thinking we can learn from that system, should see this and take the only lesson possible: it is a system to be avoided at all costs!
At all 'costs', so to speak ;-)
Yes, the USA health business costs the most and delivers the least in the world. Well done eh‽
When socialized medicine began in Canada, there was huge pressure from USA lobbyists to prevent it. That industry lobby hasn't gone anywhere and it is even stronger today.
Even now the province of Alberta under the reign of Danielle Smith and huggy pals with Donald Trump is moving to a 'dual system'.
Boris Johnson hired a former CEO to revamp the NHS into numerous smaller regions which may make up any budget shortfall with private 'care'. Incredible shrinking budgets sure to follow.
Annie was extremely worried about the future of the NHS.

2025-12-13 20:15:56 UTC

Doughnut Economics: Kate Raworth Visually Explains the 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist
https://bridport.tv/w/ce217dc7-a158-460c-99aa-93555d28b8f6
@npub12pw…zvxn was it you who posted this? Is there a thread of your thoughts?
Sometimes I leave a tab open so long that I forget the context of where it came from.

2025-12-13 01:39:58 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn You are up far too late young man!
:-)

2025-12-12 18:56:24 UTC

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Here's a similar history for change in gini by country. Different period: 2008-2023
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-how-wealth-inequality-has-changed-since-2008-by-country/
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/708/108/003/635/592/original/754c0cca5a93ee89.png

2025-12-10 06:56:06 UTC

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Just settling down to a small meal, before bed.
That all sounds right to me. Extremes of any idea are toxic to societies.
And then there's defining terms. Even 'justice'.
By which moral values? Codified in the law, certainly, but how to compare criminal codes that lean more to revenge and punishment to those leaning more to correction and reform? Or laws that favour one segment of a society over another? Legal isn't always moral.
OK, recidivism rates, for one. I'll try to think of something else.
It seems like the entire notion of 'legal justice' is inextricably bound in the problems of religion and moral philosophy in general.
I know from other discussions on here that you've schooled generations of students through dealing with my kindergarten thoughts on these subjects.
Sometimes I just need to be hit over the head. Like there was that economics one and I was like "I knew that! Why couldn't I put it together for myself‽"

2025-12-10 06:29:10 UTC

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I'm not one to talk: often up at 04h30-05h00 myself.
That tedx lecture you gave was very good. You're a good prof.
At some point I was thinking "this should be twice as long", but when you made your point, no, I thought it was exactly right. And then, yeah, it put me in mind of that famous quote and it's kind of a beautiful logical trap really. I wish I was better read.
It is late for me, but that's a great topic to explore. Plural really. Like 'anarchism'? Which brand? So many kinds and there was a bizarre brand popularized by government 'no laws' and 'lawless anarchism' became the popular sense of the word.
Political brands/labels are terrible. I've never been able to find one to say "This is me!". Although, I can find things to say "This is NOT me!" :-)
I know it's always a bad idea, but I feel like finding a bit of nosh before a late bedtime. Likely won't end well, but I'll be up for a bit more regardless.

2025-12-10 06:16:45 UTC

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Sleep
Have you heard of the concept?
:-)
(It's only 22h16 my time)

2025-12-10 03:09:14 UTC

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I don't know about the UK, but I do know that for the past decades here there has been an unwillingness to train apprentices and new employees of every kind.
Hurts this quarter's profits. No view to the future. C-suite execs do not care about the future and the market only cares about the current stock valuation and outlook.
In the trades, large projects build large fly-in camps. Journeymen are rotated in and out and when the project is completed, they move on to another project, perhaps in another country. Maintenance shutdowns in mills and factories are handled the same way, except with the expediency of local hotels vs semi-permanent camps.
Outside the trades few new hires happen and elderly staff are kept on without mentoring younger folks.
This has an end. We've seen it in micro already, but when the boomer generation finally has to quit or dies...
No one will know how to run or repair anything and all their years of Starbucks and hotel experience will not have worked to remind them of the post-secondary education they received, which they may still be paying for to this day.
Sheesh. I really have to get out more and read something cheerful.

2025-12-09 21:50:14 UTC

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There is unrelenting pressure from corporations to privatize our health care. Everywhere in the world.
BoJo actually hired a USA corporate CEO from the industry to plan the dismantling of the NHS and I think he succeeded.
Breaking things up into small units that can supplement shortfalls in funding with for-profit out-sourcing will, inevitably, lead to larger shortfalls in funding. Of course.
That's the UK done for and it's happening in Canada too with the province of Alberta leading the way, but there are moves and pressure everywhere. Healthcare in Canada is social, but not national as with the NHS and provinces have a lot of autonomy. There are rules, but Alberta is breaking them using an infrequently used clause in the constitution.

2025-12-09 21:40:53 UTC

@npub12pw…zvxn
**The $1 Trillion GPU Question: How Fast Do AI Chips Lose Value?**
https://www.techbuzz.ai/articles/the-1-trillion-gpu-question-how-fast-do-ai-chips-lose-value
https://siliconangle.com/2025/11/22/resetting-gpu-depreciation-ai-factories-bend-dont-break-useful-life-assumptions/
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/691/772/358/833/694/original/80624dd6a922ad7d.png

2025-12-07 22:13:47 UTC

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**The AI Wildfire Is Coming. It's Going to Be Very Painful and Incredibly Healthy.**
*AI won’t crash—it will burn. Like every tech cycle, the fire will clear the brush, redistribute talent, and leave infrastructure to power what comes next.*
The writer stretches the metaphor until it mercifully, finally, snaps, but tl;dr, some good things did come out of the dot bomb and 2008.
https://ceodinner.substack.com/p/the-ai-wildfire-is-coming-its-going
@npub1wtx…sr28 @npub12pw…zvxn @npub1j79…rc5v

2025-12-07 00:28:02 UTC

**A guide to the $1 trillion-worth of AI deals between OpenAI, Nvidia and others**
This kind of incestuous lending against nothing of value is going to make 2008 look like a blip in history by comparison to the crash we're fixing to have next.
And, no, I am not well educated at all, but I do follow people who are. We have two economics profs on here who comment on these things and neither one of them seems optimistic about the future of our world's finances:
@npub12pw…zvxn
@npub1j79…rc5v
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/15/a-guide-to-1-trillion-worth-of-ai-deals-between-openai-nvidia.html
https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/openai-nvidia-amd-oracle-ai-chips-ai-industry-financing-tech-industry-deals-11760162923290.html
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/675/390/086/162/408/original/3eb4d1e7055b9384.png

2025-12-02 19:45:07 UTC

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I know - I can see it in my mind, I just don't say it.
How do people call you irl? Like in the office, or your wife at home?

2025-11-30 20:20:01 UTC

@npub1css…z55x
I couldn't remember how to spell your first name, so I hit your profile, but you've changed it.
Anyhow, I saw an HPR page on there and I found myself! :-)
https://hackerpublicradio.org/correspondents/index.html?hostid=311 !!
I haven't done very many. I should do something, but what??
I made Annie a bunch of videos, but those are no good for air.
I think one on taxonomy. maybe. Organizing your files and so. IDK.

2025-11-08 15:38:15 UTC

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"This reminds me of the sorts of discussions I used to have with my student"
Of course - we are, in a way, less than first year students, because we never prepared to even study for first year! Well, speaking for myself anyhow.
@npub1xwk…mnd3

2025-11-08 14:35:15 UTC

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Who gets to create the money we have?
Governments need to spend money and they don't have any of their own, so they use yours! This humour is said to explain taxes. But where did the money come from I got as a wage anyhow? If it came from the government, why don't they just bloody make enough for themselves and leave me and mine well enough alone‽‽ :-)
Answer: I don't really know! As usual.
Question: when you deposit 100 quid with the bank for a set time, do they only lend out £100?
Heck no! I don't what the ratio is set at legally, but they likely lend it out a half a dozen times, at least - so they've 'created' money. That's nice for banks isn't it? Some of it's backed by hard assets, some isn't.
Or when a government issues bonds, it's simply selling debt to whomever will trust them enough to buy it. They get money, governments need to spend money and so that 'new' money goes into the economy.
Or another idea I read was that government should simply print/issue as much as they like, so long as value for it exists in the real world. Like, issuing 10 billion for a new bridge is fine, because there is the value of the bridge. Printing a million for a big tory1 blow out at number 10 over a weekend is not fine, b/c there's nothing to show for it but hungover politicians.
I've heard that last one called 'Social Credit'. All these are kind of jumbled in my head and I've never sorted them out really, as I don't organize our economy - I have other gifts ;-)
@npub12pw…zvxn
[1] Labour = Tory these days anyhow, don't quibble

2025-11-08 11:05:53 UTC

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I think Japan is the largest holder of USA bonds too. Maybe this 'collateral' is viewed as balancing things out.
Now that I'm looking at it from the right way around.
@npub12pw…zvxn

2025-11-08 11:02:10 UTC

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Ah. I was looking at it from the wrong POV. I was foolishly thinking how a society could better guide itself using the information vs how a lender would use it for risk assessment. And it still came down to their individual sentiment.
Thank you!
I happen to be awake for a bit in the middle of my night on this side of the planet, and here I am reading your cogent answer already. Fedi is so great having all you guys in it! Thank you Professor.

2025-11-08 06:44:58 UTC

**Government net debt of G7 countries as share of GDP 2010-2024**
Of the G7 countries, Japan had the highest net debt in terms of share of gross domestic product (GDP) between 2010 and 2024. That year, Japan's government's net debt reached an estimated 156 percent of its total GDP. Italy had the second highest debt rate at 127 percent of its GDP, whereas *Canada had the lowest at only 14 percent.*
What conclusions may be drawn from the top, middle and lowest tiers? About their governance? Economic base? Climate? Hotdogs? What? I can't see anything that jumps out at me. And if so, what is the point of the measurement for instruction on how to act?
@npub12pw…zvxn ?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1370943/g7-government-net-debt-share-gdp/
https://media.tilde.zone/media_attachments/files/115/512/689/559/507/735/original/e1fbcf14e153e507.png

2025-10-26 12:17:36 UTC

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Buildings! I thought it was some kind of weird trench.
I hope they are factories and not dwellings for poor people.
@npub1tj7…83x8

2025-09-23 12:22:49 UTC

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This experiment suggests that no one is immune from abusing and misascribing their privelige.
Monopoly Social Experiment - How Money and Power can Modify Your Mind
https://noai.duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=paul+piff&ia=web
If one grew up with outrageous wealth, like Trump, Musk, Gates et al., then a super human gift of a charitable disposition would be needed to avoid the trap, perhaps.
Or, you could play the game like these people:
**Form a co-op in the game of Monopoly**
In the spirit of the original idea behind The Landlord's Game
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord's_Game
Stuart
@npub1d5g…aq9h
Jan 22, 2023, 21:49 · · 121 · 0
"I haven't played Monopoly for many years now. The last game was with three housemates at university. One housemate was winning and really enjoying his triumph over the rest of us. So I suggested to my other two housemates that we form a cooperative. We would let each other off rents on our properties. The standards rents would apply to anyone not in the coop. And you could leave the coop if you wanted. None of this is forbidden in the rules of Monopoly because it has little market regulation.
Within a remarkably short space of time the monopolist had lost his dominance and the rest of us had flourished. He went bankrupt and the rest of us agreed to end the game as joint victors. I felt as though we perhaps played it more to the spirit of the original game that Monopoly had been derived from and found a non-monopolist solution.
A few years ago I shared this story on Twitter and then had angry libertarian men complain that I'd cheated and had actually made a cartel, not a cooperative. They weren't happy that I pointed out that no rules had been broken. In fact it was the lack of market regulation in Monopoly that allowed us to do what we did. Plus we did it fully openly and the fourth player was able to join our coop if he'd wanted.
I still don't agree that we were a cartel as there was no secrecy, deceit, or defrauding going on. We were very open about forgiving rent and doing better deals within the coop than the 'official' prices outside the coop. Anyway it was funny to see libertarian men be unhappy about something happening due to very limited market regulation (no rules saying you couldn't discount rent or undercut the guide prices).
Although Monopoly is so often presented/framed as an individualistic game of capitalist dominance, it doesn't actually have to be played like that. The system might strongly encourage that but the players can behave differently. A better way is possible.
It did teach me that a bunch of libertarian men are all in favour of lower regulation until you use that lack of regulation to behave cooperatively to help each other."

2025-09-22 02:28:20 UTC

A New Solar Panel Shield Made From Onion Peels Outlasted Industry Plastics in Tests
Natural dye from discarded onion peels outperforms fossil-based UV filters in durability and performance
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/a-new-solar-panel-shield-made-from-onion-peels-outlasted-industry-plastics-in-tests/
Their breakthrough came when they dyed these films using an extract from red onion skins, a common kitchen waste. The result was a filter that blocked 99.9% of UV radiation up to 400 nanometers, a feat that outstripped even the PET-based commercial filters chosen for comparison… [T]he onion-treated filter excelled: it let through over 80% of light in the 650-1,100 nm range — an ideal sweet spot for energy absorption… Even predictive modeling based on early degradation trends suggested the CNF-ROE filter could extend a solar cell’s lifetime to roughly 8,500 hours. The PET-based filter? Just 1,500 hours… [T]he red onion extract offered a rare combination of longevity, transparency, and sustainability…
1,500 ~= year

2025-08-28 12:57:40 UTC

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> "You are not responsible for heating up "the market"
Endless growth in a finite system is ridiculous, but we don't care. We'll be in our bunkers packing our bags for Mars.
-- Kind Regards, Capitalists

2025-08-08 18:24:46 UTC

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Thank you. I have read through many of your posts.
MMT still seems very counter-intuitive to me.
However, deficit financing has been working somehow all my life, so...
Our fellow fedizen Prof @npub12pw…zvxn said he liked some aspects, but not others and I'd like to hear more detail - when he has time and interest, of course!

2025-08-05 18:29:09 UTC

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You are dying out; We are dying out!
Of course, we three are in our dotage - I don't mean that! :-)
But it's simple arithmetic that the UK, Canada and all other developed countries are ** not reproducing ** ! We need a minimum of 2.1 births per woman and we are well below that at ~1.3. Population collapse is imminent.
If we don't have immigration, our countries will perish. The only thing that is sustaining our countries is immigration for God's sake! How can people be against it?
Who's going to be working and paying taxes when all y'all retire and die off? You don't have enough kids and grandkids! You just don't.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/total-fertility-rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_fertility_rate#Country_ranking_by_most_recent_year
We should be kissing every immigrant's hands all the way up to their elbows in blessing and thanks for coming here to save us.
@npub1g5g…3ct8

2025-08-05 08:43:06 UTC

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This is the second time I've read this notion in a week's time.

2025-07-30 12:42:24 UTC

US immigration authorities detain Korean green card holder
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20250730/us-immigration-authorities-detain-korean-green-card-holder?prnewsidx=e5dad908-6cf5-11f0-b492-02eed468a967
In the new USA no one is safe. It is just a large gulag. Taxes on the poor. No taxes on the rich. No medical. No paid holidays - if any holidays. Concentration camps. Militarized police with quotas.
Not a nice place anymore.

2025-07-28 21:35:18 UTC

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I'm an electronics tech and IT guy.
I like all the cable runs tidy for the network, alarms and telephone.
I have wired houses for electricity, cable and telephone and like everything neat and orderly.
Alles muss in Ordnung sein! :-)

2025-07-27 21:36:20 UTC

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I was all for supporting everything Prof said until he promoted the world burning stupidity of chatgpt. He should stick to his own area. God! I was so disappointed in him :-(
@npub1hen…gcxe @npub1pz3…dwqw @npub1xzj…ft66 @npub1j79…rc5v

2025-07-27 20:31:46 UTC

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Juste pour mes amis, je republie ceci.
@npub1pz3…dwqw
@npub1xzj…ft66
Now. I wonder how our friends @npub12pw…zvxn and @npub1j79…rc5v of MMT think about that?
I am politically active and I am in a quest to understand economics and how to fund our pension plans going forward. I don't have an agenda - I don't care how we do it. I would just like to see it done, before I pop off, that's all.

2025-07-26 19:04:40 UTC

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Then you'll find these intoxicatingly gorgeous!
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/bc5d75eb-4c2b-44b8-89cb-82b2f412290f/dd850pr-43c0a1c9-4772-4550-b525-294a82c8320d.jpg/v1/fill/w_1280,h_1600,q_75,strp/scary_wiring_by_rainbow_falls_dd850pr-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTYwMCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2JjNWQ3NWViLTRjMmItNDRiOC04OWNiLTgyYjJmNDEyMjkwZlwvZGQ4NTBwci00M2MwYTFjOS00NzcyLTQ1NTAtYjUyNS0yOTRhODJjODMyMGQuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEyODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.wvlJfkEG-nkxBeSdhr-_9MlAsF8iO__0DjibU2rHVPc
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/ce/33/eece33f02faeaf0999a3d101aa7b54ab.jpg

2025-07-26 10:18:34 UTC

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I've seen much worse. Mostly India.

2025-07-23 19:36:53 UTC

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Just published today, this article is relevant to our current discussion:
A pensions policy built on a Ponzi scheme cannot deliver security in retirement
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/07/23/a-pensions-policy-built-on-a-ponzi-scheme-cannot-deliver-security-in-retirement/
The author is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice @npub1j79…rc5v
We also have Emeritus Prof of Political Economy Christopher May who is also active on fedi @npub12pw…zvxn
Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) was new to me only yesterday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_monetary_theory?useskin=vector
Which sounds to me just like the original Social Credit (not the BC political party!)
The C.D. Howe Institute doesn't seem to like MMT much https://www.cdhowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Commentary_593-1-20241220-040639.pdf Howe was a tory I think.
The Fraser Institute, also tory, don't seem to be big on it either https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/primer-on-modern-monetary-theory.pdf
However, their pension policies are a proven failure, so why keep on with them? We all know a popular definition of stupidity: doing the same thing over and over, each time hoping for a different outcome!

2025-07-23 02:35:56 UTC

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Not sure what the clout would be for - to make ethical investments? You can still do that. In Oz, you've got multiple entities chasing 4 trillion dollars AUD with a 'T', that's going to make them competitive regardless no?
@npub1pz3…dwqw

2025-07-23 00:13:02 UTC

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Lots of different kinds and the most popular are self-directed, so it accomplishes your goal of getting away from the alleged mismanagement by gov't employees.
And they still have a kind of OAS by the looks of it too.
@npub1xzj…ft66

2025-07-22 22:54:58 UTC

What do you think of this Professor? @npub12pw…zvxn
The government still insists tax funds government spending – and it doesn’t
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/07/22/the-government-still-insists-tax-funds-govermment-spending-and-it-it-doesnt/
@npub1g5g…3ct8

2025-07-22 22:33:08 UTC

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You're both making some sense to me, but I haven't thought about this enough yet.
@npub1pz3…dwqw

2025-07-22 21:02:33 UTC

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You know? I always thought that too!
But I'm almost there now... almost.
@npub1pz3…dwqw

2025-07-22 19:51:37 UTC

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I was going to ask our younger friend how much he wanted his CPP contributions to increase - double, triple?
But I'm open to being funded :-)
And employers match cpp contributions by law.
@npub1xzj…ft66

2025-07-22 19:21:29 UTC

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That's interesting - maybe you can vote the age back down after the bubble of us boomers and genxers die off! :-)
I do know people who have retired and volunteer - I've always volunteered since I joined a service club at 17.
I also have known - mostly men - who retire to the couch and watch tv and die soon after from doing FA, so...
Back in 1965 when the CPP came in people were dying at 60-65 or so, depending on being male or female.
Here's now:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310011401
@npub1pz3…dwqw

2025-07-22 18:19:52 UTC

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My riding seems to vary between NDP and Conservative, but it's gone other ways the odd time.
> VoteCompass
I haven't done that for quite a while. I noticed that I've changed over the years.
> Personally, I fall into the relatively small minority of voters who have particular political views
Well, about a third of us don't even bother to vote!
I've always thought of those who do in thirds as well. Those who tend left, those right and those who are swing voters influenced by ads and personality. However, I'll accept your 20% number, b/c I don't really know for sure. Anyhow, it seems like it's the fickle people who seem to decide elections.
I do try to be informed. Although I'm not a card-carrying anything, I was on the Liberal, Conservative and NDP mailing lists during the last federal election.
I usually vote For candidates, but, like you with the PQ, I sometimes must vote Against.
I'm very happy with minority governments in general - unless their stubbornness or lack of diplomacy triggers another expensive election...
Last time we got some dental out of it - not me, both too young and too old.
I was fine with toryish things like raising retirement to 67. Life expectancy has changed a lot since CPP/QPP came in. Oh - did Quebec raise the age too?
It sucks a bit, because I'm 65 this year, but if there was a referendum I would have had to vote in favour of raising the age.
@npub1xzj…ft66

2025-07-21 02:47:48 UTC

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This is not quite what I do.
There are greens, there are independents and there is the CHP.
I have hosted all these people for free. Why?
Because they showed up at town halls and they spoke about things that are important to me.
Did I think they had a shot at winning?
No.
But they promoted social and moral issues that I think are important.
Why you declare yourself as a 'proud tory' seems bizarre to me. It's tribal, it's weird. You are also a practicing Catholic, which does make sense to me. I've spent decades reasoning about it.
I can say Ram Ram ji, peace be with you, sat sri akaal.., they are all an acknowledgement of God.
This has now become a wide-ranging conversation. We should narrow it down.
> Sometimes there are only two parties that might win, and you're convinced one of the two is evil. Therefore you must vote for the other party every time.
No.
I refuse to play the game.
I vote for Conservatives. I vote for Christian Heritage. I vote for Greens. I vote for NDP. I vote for federal Liberals.
I vote for people. Individuals who I think will do their best and be moral and right and just.
I think the tribal party thing is stupid. I have voted for all of those parties I mentioned, because I chose the individual persons who were running at the time. I chose them on their morality and their values, not their party affiliation. I think those things are more important.