It maintained some semblance of a challenge. A mass exodus leaves a welcome vacuum for it to flourish.

Fascism is going to win.

As people leave these platforms - permitting a welcome space for lies, hate speech, bigotry, and zealotry to flourish without consequence - history will recall, this was when the spark of fascism was given the last breathe of oxygen it required.

I don’t mean to excuse Meta for their unforgivable ElonTrump-influenced actions but running away is not going to win the fight you think you’re avoiding. That is, unless you all really commit and make it economically unfeasible for Meta to continue this policy.

Meta is successful because people can promote their small and local businesses. Because money can be made from ‘likes’. Because of the algorithm. Because people can get their news inline with their family photos. It’s everything. The fediverse has a long way to go to offer a seamless migration for users’ addiction to these platforms.

I don’t know how you could possibly argue that reducing nicotine in tobacco won’t benefit anyone. I would encourage you to read the statement I linked to.

I fully agree with you that these “gas station products” are potentially even more harmful. What actually scares me about this is the marketing on social media around these products. Over the past few years, people have come to trust influencers (and their feelings) more than science. I just don’t understand how we’ve become so gullible over the years. It’s could suggest that it’s the government’s lack of investment in these important agencies, the public’s lack of trust, and the influence corporations have over them; but people these days seem more in favor of a company or a billionaire telling them what to do rather than the government agency or an academic.

You’re absolutely right. Any president (or former president) claiming to have accomplished something when either someone else did it or because it’s a wholly fabricated lie or something never materialized at all is a danger to democracy.

We need stronger standards for our press (and our DOJ / courts) to hold elected officials accountable. It’s also on the people to be more intelligent and not believe everything they read (especially with the loss of fact checking). The lies and misinformation that have become prevalent in nearly all reporting by all media outlets over the past ~8 years is a threat to our democracy and seeds for the unraveling of the nation.

Being that the efforts to reduce nicotine from tobacco began under the Obama administration and have stalled for a variety of reasons, I would say that it’s not fair for any president to claim success with this matter. This is the FDA doing its job. We should give them the 100% of the credit. And that credit given should reflect on the fact that it has taken far too long for them to reach this conclusion. Government moves too slow. Politics gets in the way of making our lives better. We really have o do a better job of paying attention and rejecting conservative (small “c”) ideologies.

STAR and RCV is growing among some states and counties. Have hope.

I fully agree with this. Someone else rightly pointed out that access to UPF doesn’t equate consumption. Why are people consuming UPFs? I would argue because of economic hardship (being overworked), lack of prioritizing healthy activities and social encounters, ignorance, misinformation, and habit and/or addiction.

I think eating good foods should be every humans number one priority. “You are what you eat” may be cliche but it’s true. Above all else, I think, people should be making time in their day to eat properly. Not enough people know how to cook using fresh ingredients. I constantly see claims that processed foods are so much cheaper than fresh foods. In my experience, it’s the opposite. I mean, I just made a whole stock pot full of vegetable soup for less than fifteen bucks and it’ll feed me for a week.

To your point, I think it’s true that adding exercise to your daily routine contributes to a more positive mindset. I don’t know if this is universal but when I’m depressed I eat more poorly. When I’m in a good mood, I eat more healthy. This would seem to be backed by biology and our innate need to consume sugars and fats for long term storage.

You’re trying to find a problem for your solution.

The obesity epidemic actually due to the increased availability of ultra processed foods.

HOLY SHIT! 👏

(laughing that I found this out on Lemmy first)

I simply suggested that you use the resources available to you before calling people out. The appropriate response would be, “Oops. Sorry, I confused empathy and grief.” It’s an easy mistake and an easy apology that would have been respectfully accepted.

Instead, you’ve chosen to double down on your attack and have continued to treat me as an aggressor.

It’s apparent that you’ve been indoctrinated by modern internet / “Karen” culture. I offered to help you but you’ve been unwilling to acknowledge your mistake. You’ve made it my fault that you misread, misinterpreted, and misquoted what I wrote. This is something that could transcend your own real life and affect the relationships you have with people. The next person you misquote may not be as generous.

It’s become a common and accepted practice to twist the words of others to drive a narrative, to misinform, to bully, and to gain power. Given the opportunity, I will call it out.

It’s also a sad and common practice to reject the meaning of words. We have the world’s information at our fingertips yet people often prefer righteousness over facts.

Be mindful of the words you chose to use.

Perhaps you should open a dictionary before you make such assumptions about people in a public space.

Empathy: The ability to identify with or understand another’s situation or feelings.
Grieve: To mourn or sorrow for.

I can empathize for those who have lost their homes but I’m not able to grieve for them all. My brother’s dog just died on Christmas. I grieved for the loss of the dog and empathized with my family.

Respectfully, I have a hard time wrapping my head around someone grieving over the loss of a home for someone they’ve never met strictly because they’ve seen them in a few movies. I don’t know how many thousands of people lose their homes every year but the vast majority of them are not in a position to purchase another over night.

No doubt, losing a home is a horrible traumatic event for everyone. Personally, if I don’t have the space in my heart to grieve for every family’s loss, I don’t have the room for one celebrity.

Perhaps we could take this time to reflect on the importance of a stable home and the opportunity to create family memories and consider those who’ve never had that to begin with. In fact, I’d venture to guess this is exactly what Crystal would want us to do. As host of Comic Relief, he’s helped to raise awareness and money for the homeless like few celebrities have.

Half of me wants to start keeping a personal tally of all the bullshit that comes out of this embarrassment while the other half just wants to cancel my internet to avoid the emotional trauma.

You can thank the Supreme Court’s ‘Loper Bright’ decision in June https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loper_Bright_Enterprises_v._Raimondo

Edit: Actually, you can thank Republicans. The agenda to privatize everything (for the benefit of Wall Street investors) has been in place for over 50 years. Essentially, the constitution says nothing about providing people internet access so that means either the states can do it themselves or it can go to a private corporation. I’m telling you, the next four years are going to be apocalyptic.

I’m not shaming anyone and wealth inequality has nothing to do with this.

Anyone who believes the average salaried worker should be able to afford all the subscription services, a $60k car, a three bedroom home, and everything available at a grocery store is delusional. Marketing and corporate propaganda and influencers have made everyone to believe it’s your god given right to make $50k and live like the upper middle class. That’s not wealth inequality. It’s delusion.

No one has any concept of living within their means. If you make $50k; you should be shopping at farmers markets, you should have very few subscriptions (if any), you shouldn’t be buying a brand new car, you should be renting and living with a roommate to split the bills. That’s not wealth inequality. That’s personal finance 101.

You want to talk about shaming people, point your finger at social media and influencers. They make it seem like everyone should be taking on more debt to buy shit that won’t last one season. My 16 year old nephew wants a $250 hoodie he saw on TikTok. My 7 year old niece wants to do a shopping challenge she saw on YouTube. People are being manipulated to be consumers. To consume far beyond their means.

People have lost all concept of personal fiscal responsibility and what the value of things are. It’s really basic math and economics. No one wants to talk about that though. They want to play the victim card and blame everyone else because they believe “luxury” is owed to them. And then, when given the choice to put people in power to actually make these systematic changes you speak of, people explicitly vote against them.

Your argument is that 70% of Americans have no choice but to buy the cheapest things possible?

Judging by the success of companies like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, and DoorDash, that seems like an unreasonable argument.

People have more money than they like to admit. They just don’t want to skimp on things they believe to necessities but are actually luxuries. Fresh food is cheaper than processed food. It’s cheaper to buy ingredients to make cheeseburgers than it is to buy them at McDonalds. I buy food from the farmers market because I can’t afford the grocery store. If you’re truly struggling to buy food, you should register for food stamps. Every farmers market I’ve been to accepts them.

And I’m saying that people need to consider more than just the sticker price when making choices about nourishment.

We are not slaves to corporations. Wow have the power to not purchase their products. They get away with selling shit product for inflated profit because people don’t care. If you don’t care, then you can’t blame the corporation. That’s just insane to believe a corporation is going to do something on behalf of consumers. They answer only to their stockholders.

Maybe when people stop playing the victim card we’ll see some real change.

Convenience and cheapness has won. No one cares about a quality product. It’s better to buy more cheap things than few good things, people think.

This is mostly evident in fashion and appliances today because we already embraced this with food decades ago.

The corporations want you to spend all your money, and money you’ve yet to earn, right now. Everything is bought on credit (in many cases, you can’t even pay with cash anymore).

Especially in America, people want as much ‘stuff’ as possible for the least amount of money. What’s often missing from this stuff is quality. The only way to reduce the retail price is to reduce the cost of production. This means your food is made cheaply with exploited natural resources and cheap labor. A lot of American grown food is shipped to China for processing then shipped back to the US for sale, all to meet the demands of cheaper food.

I would offer to everyone that they take some time to consider what they’re buying, how frequently they buy it, and where it comes from. No government or corporation is going to change what you eat.

Start with reducing your meat consumption at every meal. Instead of a 12 ounce steak, get 10 ounces. Instead of a 5 piece chicken meal, get a three piece. Double or triple up on your vegetables.

The real changes happen when you start to cook for yourself. Just buying whole foods instead of processed foods is going to cut your grocery bill down dramatically. Compare the per pound cost of a whole chicken to boneless chicken breasts per pound. Also - have you noticed how woody and gigantic chicken breasts are now? Buy a whole chicken, butcher it, save money, eat delicious food.

Again, no one is going to do this work for you. And no one’s going to force Big AG farmers to start regenerative farming. Especially given the promises of the incoming administration which may very well eliminate the USDA and EPA entirely. The new GOP is going to eliminate as many federal agencies as possible and shift them to states and corporations. The Republican Party is trying to put more responsibility in the hands of consumers. And when that doesn’t work (we’re too lazy to care) corporations will make the choices for us. Frankly, our consumer protections already suck so this is mostly already the case. But, as evident from this past election, more people in this country want fewer consumer protections.

This story is happening because of consumer demand and ignorance. People walking into Walmart to get groceries have no clue what’s going on before they pick out their produce and protein. It blows my mind that a culture war is happening over the price of eggs being over $2. Eggs should not cost that little.

Moreover, I feel strongly that of all things a person spends their time and money on, it should be food. Food, Water, Air, and Sleep should be at the pinnacle of everyone’s priorities.

Please, assess your finances and figure out how to prioritize sourcing and preparing quality food. Please find a local farmers’ market. Support local businesses who put their earnings back into your community. Keep tabs on farmers who use regenerative farming and spend a portion of your food budget with them. These are the things that should matter more than a Netflix or YoutubeTV subscription.

Yes, this takes work. It takes work you’re paying corporations to do for you and they’re cutting corners (to put it lightly) to get you the cheapest crap permissible. Instead of asking, “why is this so expensive”, we should be asking “why is this so cheap”. Shifting priorities towards nourishment and away from convenience and streaming subscriptions should hopefully give you some opportunity to see things this way.

Ohhh. I see. They (Trump’s GOP) want to eliminate all federal agencies unless they can be used as punishment.

I’ve been convinced that they intend to follow through on the decades-long plan to push everything not explicitly in the constitution to the states or private corporations. This article suggests that the EPA could be used to punish ZEV states and force them to do what they want. Yeah - that makes more sense under a fascism.

The so-called ZEV states (for Zero Emissions Vehicles) do have something closer to an EV mandate, and from model-year 2026 in these states (California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia) a third of all new cars sold by each automaker will have to be battery-electric—assuming the EPA grants California a waiver to allow this to happen.

LOL any blog is going to have clickbait. Even most mainstream news is largely made up of clickbait.

Are you looking for Apple news, Apple rumors, or some website constantly trying to sell you something via affiliate links?

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/

https://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=apple

https://arstechnica.com/apple/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/search-results?q=apple

https://www.reuters.com/site-search/?query=apple