Mastodon Feed: Posts

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net ("Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:") wrote:

TIL about Weimar+, created as reaction to the Trump administration to combine the forces of (for now) France, Germany, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom to support Ukraine. This might very well result in military support independent of NATO too, see the closing statement: "We are therefore working together to strengthen our collective defence capabilities."

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/ukraine/statement-weimar-support-ukraine%5Fen

Thx to @mfierst for the info!

#EU #NATO #Ukraine #WeimarPlus

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
edgeofeurope ("Rob van Kan") wrote:

Elections are over, knife attacks in Germany and surrounding German speaking regions are over.
Sometimes you need to notice the little things.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Robinbannks ("Robin Bannks") wrote:

Lou.

b. March 2, 1942 Listen to my Lou Reed playlist on Amazon Music ... #loureed #birthday #classicrock #legends #music #musicsky #musiciansky #rockmusic

https://robinbannks.wordpress.com/2025/03/02/lou-2/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
dogzilla@masto.deluma.biz wrote:

I’m sharing this because I want this headline to preserve the utter stupidity of this moment in American history

——

Texas Official Warns Against ‘Measles Parties’ Amid Growing Outbreak | WIRED https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/02/texas-official-warns-against-measles-parties-as-outbreak-keeps-growing/ https://www.wired.com/story/measles-parties-texas-outbreak/

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

‘During a cabinet meeting Wednesday, US Health Secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a question about the outbreak, offering a variety of inaccurate information. Kennedy downplayed the outbreak, falsely claiming that "it's not unusual." But, this is an unusual year for measles in the US… the number of US measles cases this year has already surpassed the total case counts from eight of the previous 15 years. And it is only February.’

https://masto.deluma.biz/@dogzilla/114092709689601296

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
baekdal ("Thomas Baekdal") wrote:

I'm getting really tired of European politicians and press downplaying the European market and capabilities. Yes, it would be much better for everyone to have a good alliance and partnership with the US, but Europe is massive on its own.

sources: GDP (Wikipedia, Army size (Macrotrends, spending (government websites + estimated/wikipedia)

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

we were supposed to have learned this lesson by 1880:

“In the early 19th century, positions in the federal government were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time. The spoils system meant that jobs were used to support the American political parties.” - Wikipedia

“A nation cannot effectively serve its people if it is gutting and rebuilding the civil service every four years.” - David French, NYTimes 2 MAR 25

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

this is the harsh reality of our times:

“Even if Democrats sweep the midterms in 2026 and defeat the Republican candidate in 2028, that lesson will still hold. Our allies will know that our alliances are only as stable as the next presidential election — and that promises are only good for one term (at most).

It’s extraordinarily difficult — if not impossible — to build a sustainable defense strategy under those circumstances. It’s impossible to enact…”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/opinion/trump-ukraine-zelensky-usaid.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.004.9Qo0.0kJw7wxBFWBf&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

I really wish this was run by someone else…

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/style/john-schwarz-peoples-union-economic-blackout.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
datacoop@social.data.coop wrote:

A few days ago, data.coop blocked Meta/Threads on our Mastodon instance.

The decision has been under way for some time. The instance (as everything else in data.coop) is owned and run by our members. In order to block, we needed to change our guidelines, which was a decision for our members. We see this as a strength, that it's the community making the decisions, not a single person or a group of few people.

Read more about the decision (in Danish) on our website: https://data.coop/blog/defederating-meta/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
McDonald_69 wrote:

True.

#USA

Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
fox@social.lol ("Marcin Lis (Fox)") wrote:

I never expected to see something like this. It looks like we’re living in very interesting times.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/norwegian-fuel-supplier-refuses-u-s-warships-over-ukraine/

jwz wrote:

darmok dot com has not been updated lately and that's on you http://darmok.com

Boosted by jwz:
streetartutopia@mastodon.online ("Street Art Utopia") wrote:

In London Metro

Lyrilith@nitecrew.rip wrote:

And now time for the mentioned doodle. Vincent, Olivia and Katharina. 🖤
#MastoArt #sketch #sketchbook #doodle #penDrawing #markerDrawing #shadowrun #cyberpunk

jwz wrote:

ELVIRA, HER CAR TOWED

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

insane:

“Exclusive: Israel lobbies US to keep Russian bases in a 'weak' Syria, sources say”

https://www.reuters.com/world/israel-lobbies-us-keep-russian-bases-weak-syria-sources-say-2025-02-28/

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

Trump layoffs hit key 'air traffic control for space' unit - https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/trump-layoffs-hit-key-air-traffic-control-space-unit-2025-03-01/

Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
jarelion@social.lol ("jarelion :totoro:") wrote:

🛣️

#thecompochallenge

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Tutanota wrote:

It's #GlobalEncryptionDay!

Time to remind everyone that a backdoor "for the good guys only" is simply not possible.

By demanding encryption backdoors, politicians are not asking us to choose between security and privacy. They are asking us to choose no security. 👇

https://tutanota.com/blog/posts/why-a-backdoor-is-a-security-risk

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Thomas31 ("Thomas 🇦🇺") wrote:

@Tutanota This is a reference to this story for anyone who doesn't know. For anyone degoogling who is weighing up between different email platforms, this could be a reason to reconsider going with proton

https://techstory.in/proton-mail-faces-backlash-over-claims-of-political-neutrality-amid-ceos-praise-for-republican-party/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
yogthos@social.marxist.network ("Yogthos") wrote:

really telling how this cartoon from a century ago is still as relevant as ever

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social ("Kevin Beaumont") wrote:

A Trump advisor claimed @w7voa had posted “treasonous” toots in not supporting the federal government. His employer has placed him on leave.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/business/voice-of-america-trump.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.0k4.1rLm.gTMqq72O5Ob2

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

‘…to repeat, it is essential you actually say “I do not want to talk to you, I want to talk to a lawyer,” or words as close to that as possible. Thanks to “conservatives” on the Supreme Court they are allowed to coerce you into talking unless you use something close to those magic words.’

https://m.ai6yr.org/@ai6yr/114090752028190513

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
djsundog@fedi.reclaim.technology ("DJ Sundog from the *new* toot-lab") wrote:

in the spirit of YAGNI (“you aren’t gonna need it”) I offer up YAGSI (“yak ain’t gonna shave itself”) into the voidspace zeitgeist and apologize in advance.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
flicka@ohai.social ("Rebecca") wrote:

#DogsOfMastodon
Elegantly awaiting supper

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

please do *not* post or repost assertions about what has happened in response to things like the EU reaction to the US abandoning Ukraine without citing a source. it is A Very Bad Idea to spread what may well be mis- or dis-information. we all need to be careful of what we post and repost, me as much as anyone.

trust is hard to win, and easy to lose.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
cookiesinheaven@m.ai6yr.org ("jj the Santa Barbarian") wrote:

via DrStephanieB 🐦

For those that still value public health in this country:

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
beep@follow.ethanmarcotte.com ("Ethan Marcotte") wrote:

🦊

Friday was my last day working at 18F. It was a wonderful place to work, filled with extraordinary people, but a few things happened that made me realize I had to leave.

Everything happens so much these days, so I thought I’d write down for myself what happened, and how I made my decision:

https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/leaving-18f/

(FYI, this post gets into recent #uspol events. If that’s a stressor, or not interesting to you, I’d suggest skipping.)

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social ("Imogen") wrote: