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Cake day: July 16th, 2023

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  • This is absolutely staggering. I’m still trying to process the fact that senior U.S. officials—people at the highest levels of government—were casually texting war plans over Signal, an app that’s not even approved for classified communications. Not only that, but they accidentally added a journalist to the group chat. And then? Just carried on like nothing happened. No one noticed. No one asked questions. They dropped operational details, discussed strategy, named targets, and then capped it all off with high-five emojis.

    It’s not just irresponsible—it’s surreal. This isn’t a parody or a leaked TV script. This happened. They talked about military strikes the same way people coordinate a fantasy football draft. And then, as if to hammer home just how broken our national security culture has become, they celebrated the bombing of a foreign country with emojis. Fire, flags, praying hands, muscle arms. Like they’d just won a pickup basketball game.

    What’s worse—what really makes my blood boil—is that nothing will come of it. Nothing. There won’t be hearings. No one will be fired. There won’t even be a slap on the wrist. The fact that a sitting Secretary of Defense might have violated the Espionage Act by leaking sensitive war plans over an unsecured app to a journalist should be a full-blown national scandal. Instead? Silence. Shrugs. Maybe a Fox News segment praising how “tough” the response was.

    It’s the normalization of absurdity. It’s government by group chat, with the fate of lives—American and otherwise—being tossed around like a Twitter thread. And the most horrifying part? They all seem to think this is fine. Routine. Standard operating procedure.

    This is bigger than partisan politics. This is about the breakdown of basic standards—of competence, of professionalism, of decency. If this doesn’t trigger national outrage, if this doesn’t result in real consequences, then we’ve officially accepted that chaos, recklessness, and emoji warfare are the new norm.

    I’m furious. And if you’re not, you should be too.



  • Depends on where you go. America is REALLY big—like, continent-sized big. States still have a lot of autonomy, so the experience can vary quite a bit depending on the region, city, or even neighborhood. It’s not as different as going between EU countries, but there’s still a meaningful shift in culture, policy, and general vibe from place to place.

    That said, I totally get the fear and frustration. The U.S. is going through a really turbulent time right now. There’s rising political extremism, deeply entrenched polarization, and yeah—an increasingly authoritarian tone at the highest levels of leadership. For people outside the U.S., it’s not unreasonable to see that and feel like it’s unsafe or unwelcoming to visit. Depending on where you go and what your background is, it can be dangerous.

    But the full picture is more complicated. There are millions of people here actively fighting for justice, creating inclusive communities, and resisting that slide into authoritarianism. There are cities that are vibrant, diverse, and far more aligned with global democratic values than the loudest voices might suggest.

    So yeah—it’s a mess, but not a monolith. And while it’s okay to be critical, it’s also worth remembering that there are still people here trying to make things better.



  • “Russian interference” is not just a few hackers breaking into emails—it’s a well-documented, multi-decade strategy of disinformation designed to weaken democratic institutions. The Kremlin has spent years building an extensive network of fake social media accounts, bot farms, and propaganda outlets to spread divisive narratives.

    The Senate Intelligence Committee, the FBI, and cybersecurity experts have all confirmed that Russia’s influence campaigns exploit social and political fractures, using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to push misleading or outright false information. Reports from organizations like the RAND Corporation and Stanford Internet Observatory show how these tactics are designed to erode trust in democracy itself, making people more susceptible to authoritarian and extremist messaging.

    This isn’t just speculation—it’s the exact playbook used in Russia’s interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, as confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies and the Mueller Report. The goal has always been to amplify distrust, push conspiracy theories, and create a populace that can no longer distinguish fact from fiction.

    And now? We’re seeing the results. A country where misinformation spreads faster than the truth, where people take social media posts at face value instead of questioning their sources, and where a populist leader can ride that wave of disinformation straight into power.

    Putin doesn’t need to fire a single shot—he’s watching Americans tear themselves apart over lies his operatives helped plant. And the worst part? Many people still refuse to acknowledge it’s happening.

    Putin has long stated that Russia is at war with the West—not through traditional military means, but through information warfare. Intelligence agencies, cybersecurity experts, and independent researchers have repeatedly warned that we are being targeted. Yet, many in the West refused to take it seriously.

    Now, we’re losing the war—not on the battlefield, but in the minds of our own citizens, as propaganda and disinformation tear at the very fabric of democracy.






  • My wife and I own three homes, each purchased below our means so we could invest time and money into renovations while living in them. One is currently rented, and we’re working on the second, with plans to have it rented by next summer.

    Balancing full-time jobs with these projects demands a lot of our time and resources, but I take pride in the work we put into each home. I treat my rental properties with the same care and quality as my own home—because they were my homes.

    I also expect my tenants to treat the house with the same respect I do.



  • I don’t usually eat fast food, but one night I was starving, and there happened to be a drive-thru right next to me. I saw only two cars ahead in line and thought it would be quick. I pulled in and waited. Fifteen minutes passed. Then nearly twenty. By that point, a long line had formed behind me, trapping my car.

    At the thirty-minute mark, I started asking the cars around me if they could maneuver to let me out. After almost forty minutes, I finally managed to escape.

    Frustrated and still hungry, I drove a little further to a local gyro joint. I walked inside, placed my order, and within five minutes, I was enjoying a fresh, delicious lamb platter.

    If this had been an isolated incident, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. But the reality is, experiences like this are all too common. Fast food isn’t fast, and to make matters worse, it’s often not even cheap anymore. Unless you’re scraping the bottom of the so-called “value menu”—which has become scarce and filled with low-quality options—you’re likely paying the same, if not more, than you would at a local spot.

    When you stack up the cost, the wait, and the disappointing quality, it’s hard to justify why anyone bothers with fast food at all.


  • Bamboodpanda@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldConspiracies
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    3 months ago

    I get why memes like this are popular—they’re funny and make you think. But honestly, I think they can be a bit dangerous too. Sure, some conspiracy theories have turned out to be true, but way more often than not, they’re just nonsense.

    The problem with stuff like this is that it makes it seem like most conspiracy theories are worth taking seriously, which can lead to some real issues. People start distrusting everything—governments, science, journalists—even when there’s no good reason to. It can also give way too much credibility to wild ideas that just aren’t backed up by facts.

    Healthy skepticism is important, but it needs to come with critical thinking. Just saying, “What if it’s true?” doesn’t really help—it just feeds into the chaos. I feel like we need more “let’s look at the evidence” and less “trust no one.”


  • Bamboodpanda@lemmy.worldtomemes@lemmy.worldAI needs to stop
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    3 months ago

    AI is one of the most powerful tools available today, and as a heavy user, I’ve seen firsthand how transformative it can be. However, there’s a trend right now where companies are trying to force AI into everything, assuming they know the best way for you to use it. They’re focused on marketing to those who either aren’t using AI at all or are using it ineffectively, promising solutions that often fall short in practice.

    Here’s the truth: the real magic of AI doesn’t come from adopting prepackaged solutions. It comes when you take the time to develop your own use cases, tailored to the unique problems you want to solve. AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool; its strength lies in its adaptability. When you shift your mindset from waiting for a product to deliver results to creatively using AI to tackle your specific challenges, it stops being just another tool and becomes genuinely life-changing.

    So, don’t get caught up in the hype or promises of marketing tags. Start experimenting, learning, and building solutions that work for you. That’s when AI truly reaches its full potential.