Facts:

DXC fired ALL of their IT technicians servicing the Redmond Microsoft campus and replaced them with “Phoenix”, an AI chatbot that would guide users into troubleshooting their own IT problems.

The Phoenix chatbot was immediately rejected by users and completely useless at executing its intended purpose.

DXC then scrambled to rehire the technicians they fired with no success, as they quickly moved on to new jobs. New hires struggled to understand the building layouts and room devices because there was no one to pass on that knowledge.

Soon thereafter, DXC lost their multi-million dollar contract and all the new hires who worked really hard to try to were summarily dismissed.

I’m always torn when I see comments like this because I agree our country needs all the shaming and rejection in order to drive the average American to act. The shaming DOES help-- it cannot be denied.

But at the same time, being working class American is so fucking brutal, and it’s FAR worse when you are part of a marginalized group.

I am American but I did not grow up in the US, and it’s so obvious they all have been robbed of their sense of community because we are all being constantly bombarded by fear mongering narratives meant to drive up profits.

For example, kids are expected to move out at 18 because parents are weirdly concerned that their children wil turn into lazy and unproductive members of society. In reality, life is much easier when multiple generations live in the same home because even if you get on each other’s nerves, they are all at least in the same team like helping raise the children together.

Instead, they want everyone to be independent from their families because that’s more people paying rent, buying cars, products and services-- same reason why Netflix doesn’t want you sharing your account: so they can sell your friends and family their own to drive those profits up.

What is happening to America is happening to other countries as well. It’s not a moral failing unique to Americans.

It’s just that Americans already had weak public institutions as a younger nation and a very painful history full of racism, genocide, and exploitation that already was causing us great difficulty coming together to make the country a better place for everyone, and billionaires saw that as an opportunity to turn us against each other and profit from our fears.

If you don’t help the good parts of America in our battle against the bad parts of America, we will lose and you will have yet another Russia making the problems in your own country worse and worse until find yourself in the exact same position as we are.

Get involved in local politics in your country now. Don’t wait.

We all need to unite and fight against the worse parts of humanity. We’re all so tired of capitalism and exploitation. We want better. Please help us put an end to it wherever you can.

It is related to the increased calls to encourage the adoption of free and open source software, which are alternatives to corporate products. 🙂

Linux is finally becoming mainstream. I love it.

Hitler committed suicide, dumbass.

Again, peaceful protests are not a mutually exclusive option. They are simply the most accessible and most important in order to amplify labor strikes and boycotting.

Don’t fall for the propaganda calls for violence, it’s all an excuse to unleash violence upon peaceful protesters.

This marathon against fear and authoritarianism is only going to be won with facts and rule of law.

Bro, this whole stupid ass conversation started with me saying peaceful protesting is not a mutually exclusive action.

Like, feel free to go be violent or whatever. Just don’t talk others into doing it first when you obviously are not willing to do that.

That’s why Luigi is an icon, and you are, frankly speaking, a huge hypocrite.

Luigi didn’t try to persuade or pressure others into taking a risk he wasn’t personally willing to take.

I have seen the power of peaceful protesting.

The boycotts work.

Violence only gives the administration a convenient excuse to hurt us.

Don’t fall for it.

The calls for violence are propaganda.

You know how Black people finally got their civil rights?

Lawsuits. Lots and lots and lots of lawsuits.

Look it up if you do not believe me.

Black lawyers and their allies worked tirelessly to sue local, state, and federal institutions. The peaceful protests brought attention to the lawsuits so they could not be ignored and galvanized the Black community and their allies into a movement of orchestrated action.

Millions of people boycotting, even if imperfectly, is fucking devastating for corporate giants and 100% legal.

Violent action will not work because taking down an authoritarian regime is a marathon, not a race.

It’s going to take a long time to extirpate all the cancer plaguing our institutions, and violent conflicts just make it take even longer.

I’m sharing a link with you of an interview between John Stewart and Maria Ressa, who is a journalist that was targeted, attacked, arrested, and charged for her criticisms of Rodrigo Duerte.

It’s important to note the role that social media manipulation plays us all into thinking that challenges in court and peaceful protests do not work-- they do, just not in a way that is obvious to someone who is not used to fighting against an authoritarian regime.

It’s very ironic to me you are even bringing up Martin Luther King Jr because it makes my point.

You know how Black people finally got their civil rights?

Lawsuits. Lots and lots and lots of lawsuits.

Look it up if you do not believe me.

Black lawyers and their allies worked tirelessly to sue local, state, and federal institutions. The peaceful protests brought attention to the lawsuits so they could not be ignored and galvanized the Black community and their allies into a movement of orchestrated action.

Millions of people boycotting, even if imperfectly, is fucking devastating for corporate giants and 100% legal.

Violent action will not work because taking down an authoritarian regime is a marathon, not a race.

It’s going to take a long time to extirpate all the cancer plaguing our institutions, and violent conflicts just make it take even longer.

I’m sharing a link with you of an interview between John Stewart and Maria Ressa, who is a journalist that was targeted, attacked, arrested, and charged for her criticisms of Rodrigo Duerte.

It’s important to note the role that social media manipulation plays us all into thinking that challenges in court and peaceful protests do not work-- they do, just not in a way that is obvious to someone who is not used to fighting against an authoritarian regime.

If you believe violence is necessary, you need to be the one that suffers the consequences of it.

This is a disinformation and manipulation war, and such wars are won with facts and the rule of law.

You are already seeing institutions rising and forming stronger coalitions.

You are already seeing the richest man in the world cry like a fucking pussy, knowing he’s completely fucked and hated by the entire world.

You are already seeing Trump panicking and throwing tantrums because he’s facing a lot more opposition from the people he thought would go along with the plans.

They’re desperate. They want violence from us so they can justice unleashing police and military violence upon us all.

The boycotts work. The sabotage works. The solidarity being spread across the nation through peaceful protesting works.

May 1st.

Show up if you are not a Russian bot spreading hopelessness and fear.

Can you not read?

Peaceful protests are not the only option on the table, but they are one of the most powerful ones available to us.

The government cannot touch a peaceful protest with violence without drawing enormous amounts of anger from the rest of the population.

And the bigger and more regular these protests become, it pulls more and more people out of the labor pool and consumer pool, because nobody is working or buying much of anything on days of protests.

I can tell you have never been to a single one, because if you had, you would know that peaceful protests is where everyone is coordinating and spreading useful information, because you cannot do that online.

People who attend peaceful protests go back home learning about boycotts, sabotage, and feeling connected and inspired by others who feel just like they do.

It’s really expensive, for sure.

We cannot afford to shop there exclusively, but when you are looking for a fine cheese or bread, it’s a really nice place to shop.

I can always tell when someone has not ever been to a peaceful protest because they do not understand their true purpose.

The problem is that you are thinking of peaceful protests as the only form of action being suggested, when that it is simply not the case.

What is happening to the United States (and Canada, the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, etc.) is an incredibly powerful disinformation campaign, meant to spread division, lies, hopelessness, anger, and fear through social media.

Step one to fight back is to get off social media and start engaging with your community directly.

At peaceful protests, you will connect with:

1. Groups looking for volunteers to organize even bigger protests and form coalitions.
2. Lists of businesses to boycott
3. Planned labor strikes and food drives for striking local union members
4. Sign ups for phone calls and letters to Congressional members calling for action.
5. Establishing support networks in case disaster strikes the community with first aid training.
6. Information on how to be prepared in case martial law is enacted and what to do if a protest turns violent.
7. All kinds of artists and musicians, using their talents to spread the word.
8. Peaceful protests are the best way to connect with underground and secret coalitions, because it is imperative all coordination takes place completely outside of the Internet for obvious reasons.

There’s a lot more happening, so why don’t you just attend one and find out for yourself if I’m telling you the truth or not?

You can personally perpetuate violence against our oppressors.

Just don’t call on others to do so first.

Other options:

1. Boycott
2. Sabotage
3. Organize coalitions to take concerted action

Do not conflate the people with the corporations.

And let’s not ignore the fact that many nations were happy to buy and profit until the USA government turned into a bargain sale for billionaires.

It is morally wrong to call on others to inflict violence.

Fighting back is not the same as using violence to send a message.

All it does is give the regime a reason to attack peaceful protesters.

Peaceful protests are incredibly powerful because that’s all people not working and not buying, and the government can’t just arrest thousands and thousands of peaceful people for no reason.

That’s why they infiltrate protests with instigators. To give them an excuse to use police violence against peaceful innocent people.

Dude, Costco ain’t the only option.

We strictly only buy gas and home supplies. We have no money to waste on frivolous junk and it’s killing the planet anyways.

For food, we go to WinCo which is employee owned, farmers markets, and PCC, which is our local food co-op.

I agree that economy is part of it, but note that Costco defied DEI orders and agreed to union demands for increased wages around the same time as Target bent the knee.

A lot of people I know got Costco memberships they didn’t bother with before. And if it had been the other way around, I would have cancelled my Costco membership and credit card, just like I did with Amazon, and just shop elsewhere or go without.

I have a friend that used to go to Target all the time with her sister just for fun (I know…), and she told me that they are never stepping foot in there again.

I know I sure as fuck never will step foot in Target ever again, and nor will my sister or my boyfriend.

That’s five people never buying from Target and talking to their friends not to go there, and I doubt we are the only ones.

They took our coffee maker away and put one of those Keurig and everyone in my team complained and got real snarky with leadership until we got our old coffee maker back.

So wasteful.

I have struggled with constipation my whole life.

For most people, including me, constipation is caused by dehydration. I’m still working on increasing my water intake, but in the meantime:

1. If cannot poop, get off the toilet.
2. Go chug a couple glasses of water.
3. Pop some squats. Hold low position for a few seconds.
4. Try pooping again when it feels right.

Putting your pants back on for this process is optional.

Hemorrhoids.