My kids had full internet use with only porn and advertising blocking, except for “homework time”, as well as no restrictions on video games (except for fucking Roblox). They recently graduated high-school at the top of their class and continue doing great in university.

They grew up to be nice, well-rounded young men who make friends easily, aren’t assholes, aren’t glued to their cell phones (which they had since they were little), don’t mindlessly watch TV, can easily switch tasks and “buckle down” when they have to, and have a great work ethic. They grew up with the attitude that internet/cell phones are tools, not rewards or distractions. Once they hit high-school I found I no longer needed to monitor them (and it was starting to feel creepy and invasive). When they had to study they studied, on their own without prompting or timers.

I had no worries because I know how to read papers, and there was (and still is) ABSOLUTELY ZERO evidence that doing so would be harming, but in fact the reverse is true.

Kids grow up to be like their parents. Don’t want them to be assholes? Then don’t be an asshole. Want them to grow up with a reading habit? Then read for yourself. It’s that easy.

It’s interesting to see that their friends who had strict internet/gaming rules ended up turning into complete shitheads they no longer associate with.

I remember when Canada used to prosecute and jail fascists. Now it coddles them.

Already done. It’s called Torrent Streaming and lets you stream-on-demand anything that exists as a torrent without having to torrent anything yourself.

A client that can stream these Spotify torrents with an interface that works like Spotify (low bar, I know) will be awesome, but also including a database to match songs to artists so users can send money directly to the artists they listen to will make it revolutionary.

Right? All it needs to do is carry a stack of 4x8 plywood and a bunch of 2x4s, or the entire contents of a two-room apartment – something a 1980’s “mini” pickup like the Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 could easily handle.

They’re not “speed enforcement cameras” they’re part of a mass surveillance system with the feature that records speed and adds that data along with all the other data it collects and associates with your plate number and any beacons your cell phone is transmitting.

If it was about speeding or safety they’d design the road better or have police patrolling more often.

Just take a look at how these systems are abused by the government in the UK and US. Does this still make you feel safe?

I’ve always assumed this (and assumed that other people assumed this), because if you talk to homophobes they’ll eventually say something like “it’s a choice!” because it’s a choice for them. It’s not a choice for me because gay porn doesn’t turn me on – and if it did I wouldn’t care anyway because that’s how I was raised. But it DOES turns them on, AND they were raised in an environment where this is THE WORST THING EVER, so it upsets them and they get all irrational and punchy (lesson learned: DO NOT discuss this theory with a homophobe.)

TLDR; IMHO Homophobes who think orientation is a choice are closeted gays because logic.

It would be nice to see a better study. Interesting if one hasn’t been done in all this time…

The best time to fire the entire board of directors and executive management was 15 years ago. The second best time is now.

IMHO they’re purposely driving Mozilla into the ground for Google. Google just needs Firefox to prevent Chrome from being separated from Google, it doesn’t need Firefox to be a good browser.

Many Americans are fine with what’s going on. After all, they have Jesus to help them through the tough times.

The rest have been brainwashed to think they need to kill people or do useless violent shit that just gets them shot or imprisoned. Otherwise all they can do is march around or vent.

Instead forget about the government (they don’t care), and go after the true cause: Billionaires and their corporations, propagandists, fascists, and their supporters. Just quietly take away their assets. Make fascism too expensive for them, financially and personally – because that’s the real problem: there’s no punishment for bad behavior if you’re wealthy or connected. They only care about money, so take it and the remove their ability to make it. Hit them where it hurts them.

Be non-confrontational and asymmetrical.

I find it astounding that Americans STILL think there’s democracy in America.

It’s gone and it’s not coming back for a long, long time.

Yeah, that last protest – the biggest ever in the US wasn’t it? – did so much.

Protesting is what got you here. And they want you to keep protesting uselessly while they continue to take apart America.

I don’t think this has anything to do with autism, ADHD, or neurodivergence.

Intelligent people are curious. That’s what makes them intelligent.

IMHO neurodivergent people don’t have a trait for “curiousity” – they’re just more intelligent (if their neurodivergence isn’t too severe) and so are interested in things. That’s why there’s so many in technical and engineering fields, mathematics, science – the really hard stuff (hard for most people.)

Yeah, it’s still not easy because there’s so much other stuff going on inside the mind, but all that other stuff is going to lead to some pretty cool thoughts that could turn into a paper, project, business, thesis, etc. (if you manage to remember them long enough to write them down!) Over years this builds brain matter and this is where the intelligence comes from (again assuming the neurodivergence isn’t severe.)

By “intelligence” I mean the raw ability to process information and gain understanding from it. Not IQ.

That’s why accountants and auditors exist.

If you’re suggesting that it shouldn’t be done because its too hard – it’s not. That’s just a dumb excuse.

You just said why it’s a stupid, stupid thing to do: Trump would have caved anyway. All Carney had to do is wait.

That he would cave so quickly shows how little he values Canadian interests over American profits.

That’s EXACTLY what the general understanding is. You just need to think about it for a few seconds.

Some people just don’t want to or even have the ability to think and just parrot what their peers say, or they’re just bigoted pieces of shit and this lets them get away with it.

Anyone complaining about “woke” is a bigot. Call them out.

There’s nothing preventing capitalism from being socialist, except right-wing propaganda.

Capitalism is a (very powerful) financial tool for societies. It can help them prosper or it can be abused and turned to fascism.

The key is to keep the Capitalists out of government to prevent legislative capture by corporations.

Look at the Scandinavian countries to see successful social-democratic countries that have embraced capitalism without frogmarching into fascism like the US. Sure, they’re not without their problems, but I’d rather have their problems.

Where does the money for the investor’s dividends come from?

That happened a decade ago. You can’t find many pet supplies anywhere anymore because one company owns the distributors and the stores – and they don’t give a shit because they’re American and Canada is too small of a market to support, so it’s left to wither and die.

The same with Veterinary services. They’ve all be bought up, made into chains, or signed bullshit distribution or service agreements by a single (American) company and now it costs many multiples what it used to for no reason except greed.

This is the stupidest thing I’ve read today – and I just came from Reddit.

Not talking about something isn’t going to prevent it from happening.

They’re already building a police state and it’s happening in front of your eyes. Pretending not to notice is exactly what they want.

Right? This is a no-brainer. Builds a technical workforce, creates Canadian businesses that pays taxes to Canada (instead of giving money to American companies who pay taxes to the US), saves an incredible amount of money that is currently spent on bullshit licenses to Microsoft, Google, etc. Not to mention the security implications of using American software in the Canadian government.

That’s not how it works. If you’re American, you pay taxes to the US no matter where you live. If you work overseas you may have to ALSO pay taxes to the country you’re living in, unless you expatriate yourself (where the word “expat” comes from) or denounce your US citizenship completely and emigrate. It’s a mess.

Let them cry all they want, because they’re not going to leave. And if they do – good riddance. They contribute nothing to society anyway.