PizzaMan

joined 1 year ago
[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

https://investors.yum.com/news-events/financial-releases/news-details/2023/Yum-Brands-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Results-and-Increases-Dividend/default.aspx

We repurchased 10 million shares totaling $1.2 billion at an average price per share of $119.

They are just greedy. They have the money, but giving the money to the rich is evidently more important.

https://cwa-union.org/stock-buybacks-hurt-workers

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

At the moment, lemmy is not great with comment integrity. If somebody deletes a comment (mod or the user themselves), the entire chain basically gets nuked.

So it looks like a conservative got embarrassed that they were supporting a white supremacist killer, and deleted their comments. Or maybe they got banned.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

What holds youtube from blocking all videos to addblock users just as other sites do?

It's a constant game of cat and mouse, an arms race till the end of time. You can't block videos from ad-block users if you can't tell which users are using adblock and which are not.

I don’t understand why self hosted videos aren’t more popular

It's quite complicated technologically, and requires quite a lot of storage space. Viewers only go where the creators go, and the creators have no reason to go to someplace that is more of a pain in the ass to host videos.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Can you answer my question or not?

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Are you referring to your question about my ideals or values, respecting distribution of benefit from land usage?

I'm referring to this one:

ideal that land is natural and should benefit everyone equally.

Do you disagree with this?

I have framed the conversation around my skepticism that Georgism meaningfully contributes to leftism or functions as a leftist tendency

The goal of leftism is to create a better, more progressive society. With that means that the "end goal" of the state must be determined, which means the income, whether monetary/resource based/etc must be determined as well.

You can't have a state that doesn't have a defined input/output. So if you want to meaningfully contribute to an ideal leftist society/government, one such meaningful contribution is solving the government's input/output problem.

Taxing land is one such solution to this problem.

including lands, being utilized socially and also toward benefit that is private.

Under georgism, all land gets taxed regardless of who owns the land, how they own the land, whether it is private or personal, and regardless of whether or not private property still exists.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (5 children)

If you're not going to answer my questions that I don't see the need to respond to your statements.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (13 children)

Georgism tends not to augment leftist theory or objectives

And like I already said, not every policy is implemented to solve every problem.

Georgians want landlords and business owners to be taxed such that ...

And this is a sweeping generalization. Not all georgians agree on every aspect of georgism. There are georgians that want to keep a pure "free market" capitalism, there are those that want a mixed economy, and those that want socialism or communism in addition to georgism.

It's not a one size fits all camp.

ideal that land is natural and should benefit everyone equally.

Do you disagree with this?

Leftists want to abolish profit

This is also just a sweeping generalization. Just as with georgism, leftism isn't something that can be defined by a simplified, sweeping generalization. Leftists are a diverse group.

You're not talking about policy, which is where the actual conversation is at.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (15 children)

Not every policy is implemented to solve every problem. So listing all the things georgism doesn't solve is a moot point.

No matter what, the state needs a source of income. And georgism is to my knowledge the least bad of all options, all of which are bad.

The rules on who can own what land for what purpose, private or personal is independent of the rules on how tax is collected.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago

Shit like that is also a far, far better use of airspace/resources

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Because current technology hasn’t figured that out yet. It sure as shit isn’t EV’s

So they're a lot of shit here, but this is the most egregious. EVs are not a solution to climate change, they're a bandaid used in an attempt to fix internal bleeding at best. Any environmentalist that is even slightly informed knows as much.

Transportation only makes up a quarter of all emissions. We need something that will apply to and reduce emissions from all sources, not just one. A carbon tax is the most effective way to do that. The whole point of capitalism is that it is a race to the bottom for the lowest cost product, and we need to use that. Currently the profits are privatized and the costs (carbon) is socialized. That needs to change, products need to reflect their actual cost, including the cost to the habitability of our planet. If that were to happen, companies would actually start to give two shits about it instead of just virtue signalling over it. Other countries have implemented carbon taxes to great effect, and we ought to follow suit.

But beyond that, there is more to it. Going by sector:

Transportation Emissions - We already have the technology to cut this. The first step is to reduce unnecessary travel. If a job can be worked remote, then it should be worked remote. If it can be hybrid, then it should be hybrid, etc. Few companies are willing to do so due to the lack of financial incentives, so those financial incentives need to be created, and that's where a carbon tax comes in. With that, and a law allowing corps to drop office leases early, it would overnight decrease the need for transportation and therefore emissions.

Then there is private life transportation, going to your local supermarket, community center, etc. The biggest thing that needs to change here is zoning law. There needs to be significantly more mixed use zoning, and high density zoning. If it takes only a 10 minute walk to do your local errands and spend time with your community, then people won't use a car as much, and cars are by far the worst offenders of transportation emissions aside from shipping. There needs to be more bike/walkability infrastructure to make it safe (it's a dangerous shit show now), so that people can get where they need to without using a vehicle or risk getting hit by one.

Beyond that, public transportation needs an overhaul. Electrified rail transportation has existed for over a century. We have the technology to implement this on a far wider scale than we currently have. And none of it needs vehicle batteries.

Electricity Generation emissions - Contrary to your belief, wind and solar are not bullshit. They make up a huge chunk of the EU's power generation. Every single watt of which is far more carbon efficient than anything fossil fuel based. Not only that, but wind and solar aren't the only options for renewable/low carbon energy. Hydro electric has been around for forever, it's clean, it's safe, and it's plenty powerful for entire cities. Plus it comes with the benefit of often being able to be used as a battery to help make up for the deficiencies of wind and solar.

And I agree that we should be building nuclear power plants. They're safe, clean, and powerful. We should have and could have completely replaced all of fossil fuels with them by now if we started building them en mass in the 70s.

As for the rest of the sectors, a carbon tax would work just the same. Corps would actually seek to reduce the use of fossil fuels so they can lower their taxes. If corps are financially incentivized to reduce emissions, they absolutely will do so. Part of that "the rest" is heating/cooling, which is made significantly easier with heat pumps and stronger insulation regulations/incentives.

And the last bit, we are pouring shit loads of money into fossil fuel subsides. That's money that is artificially keeping fossil fuels cheap in comparison to renewables, which is preventing renewables from gaining better traction. Those subsidies need to end as soon as possible and instead handed over to renewable projects.

Now for some specifics.

It sure as shit isn’t EV’s, our power grid can’t keep up with normal usage, let alone millions of EV’s, lack of places to charge them, people held up on trips because their batteries are dead.

Like I said, we should be reducing car dependence which will in turn reduce the load on the power grid. And the battery life/distance/charge time is getting better and better each year. But to the extent that our society is stuck with cars, EVs are and always will be better than ICE cars.

Freight that can’t move because the only electric trucks that exist can go about 400mi then need to recharge for 10+ hours

We have the technology to build electrified rail. Granted we need way more of it, and existing rail needs to be electrified, but we are not stuck with trucks. And a 400mi range is plenty of range to go from a train depot to the end destination.

You think the supply chain was destroyed by COVID, that wouldn’t even compare.

I don't give two shits about the supply chain. The habitability of our planet is far more important. We can, for now, still have both. But not for long.

instead we fund the deforestation of hundred of thousands of acres of farmland to put up useless solar panels

We don't need to deforest at all for solar. Single unit family homes are able to have most/all of their electrical needs handled by roof panels, and there is plenty of wasted space on commercial buildings in cities and in parking lots.

themselves don’t have a long duty life, are toxic as hell, can’t be recycled, and then what?

If solar panels are "toxic as hell", just wait until you hear about these things they call fossil fuels. They're quite literally destroying and poisoning the planet.

The same people that bitch about “sustainability” want to recycle, but not paper,

We should be recycling paper. I am bitching about sustainability. And I am telling you we should recycle paper. I don't know who the fuck you're talking to that could lead you to this impression.

bitch about clean natural gas

There is nothing clean about fossil fuels.

When the “solution” to a problem creates 3 more in it’s place…it’s not a Solution.

We are in a deep fucking mess over this crisis. We can either go with the painful option, or the extremely painful option. The painful option is to fix it, the extremely painful option being doing nothing/minimally acting.

If things continue the way they do, there will be millions, potentially billions of migrants as a result of climate change. Where do you thing those people will try to go? They're gonna try to come here. Republican policy of fucking the environment with a cactus will directly lead to more migrants.

Do you like nuclear war? I don't either. And I'd rather not have the doomsday clock tick closer to midnight because Iran lost access to potable water and decided war is a good option. I don't know about you, but I have zero desire to die in the potentially upcoming water wars.

3 small problems is better than one giant one that will end society/humanity.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

What big oil does is 100% irrelevant.

Everything you brought up is a oil lobby talking point.

Until we CAN replace them, we can’t, it’s that simple

Anybody who tells you the climate situation is simple is lying to you.

Taking things we absolutely need and fucking up life as we know it doesn’t change that

We don't need to fuck things up, at least for now.

if you know of a way to do just that, without that end effect, I’m all ears.

Fine, I'll respond to your initial comment.

[–] PizzaMan@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Oh, definitely make sure to leave and make it even more of an echo chamber then.

You're really helping.

 

Active Clubs are quickly expanding their presence in the United States, and one such group is wreaking havoc in a Tennessee mayoral race

The city of Franklin, Tennessee, has exploded into a political firestorm in the wake of an alliance between conservative mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson and a white supremacist “Active Club.”

Last week, Hanson arrived at a candidate forum with members of the Tennessee Active Club acting as her escort. Rolling Stone reported last month on Active Clubs, which are an emerging form of open-network groups that blend martial arts and combat training with white supremacist ideology. According to a report by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), more than 46 of these clubs have been established in the United States since 2020, one of them in Tennessee. When the group arrived in Franklin, they claimed to be there to “protect” Hanson, a current alderman for the city. Brad Lewis, who has described himself as “an actual literal Nazi” and owns a gathering place and training center for the Active Club, told News Channel 5 that Hanson was a “friend” and that they came at her request.

The members of the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen (save for Hanson) released a statement last Wednesday declaring they would not “tolerate any form of hatred, intimidation, or violence directed at our residents, media representatives, or anyone else attending or participating in the democratic process.”

Tuesday night, members of the board took Hanson to task in person, accusing her of sowing division and endangering the community. Hanson refused to condemn the group. “This is the old adage of ‘you reap what you sow,’” Hanson told the board, claiming the Active Club was in Franklin partially as a result of alleged discrimination against Christians. “You’ve planted seeds for years and years against our citizens, and they are coming to harvest, this is what the citizens of Franklin are getting because of bad decisions.”

“It’s easy to shift all the blame,” Hanson added. “I just happened to arrive at a time when everything was starting to crumble.”

Active Clubs are the brainchild of Robert Rundo, a California white supremacist who, after failing to launch one racist group and being charged with incitement of riots in the U.S., moved to Eastern Europe to craft what he calls “White Supremacy 3.0,” a style of white supremacist ideology that eschews flashy, aggressive public displays of past neo-Nazi movements. Active Clubs have also taken on a self-appointed status as a “stand-by militia,” primed for violent action.

Hanson claimed that the Tennessee Active Club came to Franklin because they were an “anti-antifa group” and “the dark web is showing massive antifa activity” in and around the city. At one point on Tuesday, Hanson referred to Brad Lewis, the “actual literal Nazi,” as her “client.”

“I’m a realtor, I’m not going to denounce anybody their right to be whatever it is that they want to be, whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not,” she said, adding that “we don’t discriminate in this community” and that the Active Club “never laid a hand on anyone and they were very respectful while they were here.”

Alderman Matt Brown rebuffed Hanson, questioning the assertion that her relationship with the Tennessee Active Club was just a business. Brown pointed out that Hanson had publicly shared social media posts from the group, including screenshots of Telegram chats that contained the phrase “there is no political solution,” and accused Franklin’s current mayor of having antifa connections.

“We cannot allow this kind of hate to take hold in Franklin or else we have lost everything,” Brown said, before addressing Hanson directly. “Is it your mission to divide our city? Because you are doing a bang-up job of it right now.”

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submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by PizzaMan@lemmy.world to c/conservative@lemmy.world
 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a challenge to its landmark New York Times v. Sullivan ruling. Justice Clarence Thomas has some thoughts.

The 1964 ruling established limits on public officials’ ability to sue on grounds of defamation, as well as the need to prove a standard of “actual malice” by the outlet making the allegedly defamatory statements.

The Supreme Court declined to hear Blankenship v. NBC Universal, LLC, a lawsuit brought by coal magnate Don Blankenship, who in 2015 was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to violate safety standards at a Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers. Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $250,000. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction. Blankenship then sued NBC Universal, alleging that the news company had defamed him by describing him as a “felon.” Lower courts ruled that NBC had not acted with “malice” in their statements, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.

While Justice Thomas concurred that Blankenship’s case did not require a ruling by the Supreme Court, he called for the justices to review the standard set by New York Times v. Sullivan “in an appropriate case.”

“I continue to adhere to my view that we should reconsider the actual-malice standard,” Thomas wrote,” referencing his previous opinion in Coral Ridge Ministries Media, Inc. v. Southern Poverty Law Center. “New York Times and the Court’s decisions extending it were policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law,” he added, “the actual-malice standard comes at a heavy cost, allowing media organizations and interest groups ‘to cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’”

The push from Thomas comes amid widespread media reporting on allegations of corruption and improper financial relationships involving the justice. A series of investigations by ProPublica and The New York Times have uncovered unreported gifts, real estate deals, and luxury perks given to Thomas by high-profile conservative figures — many of which were not reported in financial disclosures, or weighed as conflicts of interest in relevant cases.

In April, ProPublica reported on the extent of Thomas’ relationship with billionaire Harlan Crow. The real estate mogul gifted Thomas frequent rides on private jets, vacations to luxury resorts, and trips on his superyachts. Crow also purchased $133,000 in real estate from Thomas, and footed private school tuition bills for a child Thomas was raising.

Subsequent reporting has exposed Thomas’ relationship with other powerful conservative players, including the Koch brothers, oil tycoon Paul “Tony” Novelly, H. Wayne Huizenga, the former owner of the Miami Dolphins, and investor David Sokol.

Thomas has claimed that the omissions from his financial statements were nothing more than oversights and that he had been advised that “this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”

 

How dare somebody work with the democrats to avoid a government shutdown. Absolutely disgraceful, preventing our economy from blowing up.

 

Friendly reminder:

https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1903

It is hypocritical to claim to be the party of law and order when you support sedition, the interference of elections, and violence against political enemies.

 

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/news@lemmy.world/t/488620

65% of U.S. adults say the way the president is elected should be changed so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency.

 

The two week old article is about a recent event that occurred within the last month, here is a section of the article:

Published 12:05 PM EDT, July 14, 2023

A Capitol riot suspect who had guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home has been indicted on federal firearms charges, authorities said Friday.

If posting an article that is older than two weeks is considered "old content" deserving of being removed, then the rules on the sidebar should represent that. I'm not sure which mod removed it so I'm making this a general post instead of talking to the mod that removed it directly.

 

This is a long video, but a good one. Definitely worth listening to in the background.

It explains a bit about how right wing media got to be how it is, as well as a story about bringing people back from right wing extremism.

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