Jessica 'Elle' Smith Ⓥ

"Without taxes, how will we get [whatever you want taxes for]?" is the same as: "Without slavery, who will pick the cotton?" "Without rape, how will we have kids?" "Without carjacking, how will we get cars?" "Without kidnapping, how will we get friends?" Consent matters.

@DeTocqueville14 I can't find a vcr for less than $150 😭

I think that I am going to open up a Blockbuster Video store

@SenRandPaul Because the state has become nothing more than a colossal jobs program in service of an oligarchy. They aren't paid to "monitor and prevent the welfare ripoff", they're paid to be part of a sprawling bureaucracy acting as a human shield for those at the top.

Independent journalists are putting government to shame. How is it possible they uncover waste, fraud, and abuse, yet people who get paid to monitor and prevent the welfare rip-offs are clearly failing?

@LeaveHeardAlone @fandompulse This is the epitome of a life so devoid of and desperate for meaning, they imagine it in everything around them.

@fandompulse It is impossible to create art that says nothing.

Project Hail Mary writer Andy Weir on social commentary in books: "I dislike social commentary. Like… I really hate it. When I’m reading a book, I just want to be entertained, not preached at by the author. Plus, it ruins the wonder of the story if I know the author has a political or social axe to grind. I no longer speculate about all possible outcomes of the story because I know for a fact that the universe of that book will conspire to ensure that the author’s political agenda is validated. I hate that." "I put no politics or social commentary into my stories at all. Anyone who thinks they see something like that is reading it in on their own. I have no point to make, and I’m not trying to affect the reader’s opinion on anything. My sole job is to entertain, and I stick to that." "To that end, I also don’t talk about my personal political opinions publicly. I don’t want readers to even know, honestly. I don’t want that in the back of their minds as they read my stuff." Is this why he has the #1 sci-fi movie in decades?

@UllrRover @JakeCan72 @ap4aaa OP isn't being entirely honest. He was diverting and damming protected streams and tributaries. Not that I give a rip of deference to govt but he really was infringing on the neighbors who relied on the flowing water continuing to flow so they'd have water too.

@JakeCan72 @ap4aaa I wonder if it's OK to store water in the toilet.

In Oregon, all water is publicly owned. Rain that falls on your property. Snow that melts on your land. Gary Harrington didn’t accept that. He built three reservoirs on his 170-acre property in Eagle Point — collecting rainwater and snowmelt for personal use and wildfire protection. The state told him to drain the reservoirs. He refused. 30 days in jail. Nine misdemeanor convictions. $1,500 fine. His argument: it’s rain that fell on my land. Oregon’s argument: all water belongs to us. Oregon won.

@NarasiVisual @cb_doge That's.... not it.

@cb_doge His saying is basically a practical application of Popper’s paradox of tolerance

El Salvador President Bukele: “They are worried about the human rights of the k*llers. What about the human rights of the women who don't want to be r*ped? Or the kids who want to safely play in the park?”

@ArcasDeDisco @too_many_grapes If your ideas require violating the rights of others to get things done, then your ideas are garbage. It's really that simple. Other people are not your property.

@jess_bbg @too_many_grapes That’s right a purest which is why nothing ever gets done. Socialsim needs anarchism as a check against authoritarianism, and that a "united front" is required to gain sufficient power to challenge capitalism. But sit on your ass and do nothing that’s fine.

No matter what the predator class tells you, lets make something very clear: Universal health care is not extremist A living wage is not extremist Affordable housing is not extremist Basic human rights is not extremist Equality for ALL is not extremist

@nycfort @nickshirleyy @SenWarren I heart this ratio

@nickshirleyy @SenWarren absolute clown take. fraud exists so we shouldn't tax extreme wealth? That's how crooks like you keep the status quo. disgusting

Jeff Bezos has $222 billion. If he paid my wealth tax this year, we could fund insulin in America for everyone who needs it plus free school lunch for every kid in Texas—and have plenty of money left over. And Bezos would still have $215 billion dollars to spare.

@David_Charts2 @SenWarren Bless your heart

@SenWarren Top 10% have $118 trillion. Bottom 50% have $4 trillion. Tax the rich.

@SenWarren No he doesn't. He has ownership interests that the market values there. But you already know that. Instead of trying to rile up your ignorant, uneducated base, why don't you try reallocating the actual dollars going to waste and fraud?

@ArcasDeDisco @too_many_grapes That's a lot of words to try to convince yourself it's OK to violate others to get your way

@jess_bbg @too_many_grapes I’ve met beautiful communists, anarchists, socialists, progressives etc to share ideas with when we disagree. Then there’s you, a snarky, bitter, probably well educated without actual street knowledge or boots on the ground. But muh rights muh rights so yea look in the mirror

@ArcasDeDisco @too_many_grapes You seem confused. I'm sorry other people's rights getting in the way of accomplishing what you want is so upsetting, I guess.

@jess_bbg @too_many_grapes So you don’t have a solution just insults, criticisms and an opinion. How exactly is that helping anyone? Or is helping others not part of your agenda? Do no harm but do no good is your motto I take it?

@too_many_grapes @ArcasDeDisco Whatever you want that doesn't violate anyone else.

@jess_bbg @ArcasDeDisco Then what do you propose. Seriously give me your ideas

@ArcasDeDisco You don't have a right to violate others just because you can't imagine how to achieve your desires without doing so. Your lack of imagination doesn't trump anyone else's rights. Try harder.

@jess_bbg Anarchist theory lack a way to scale up voluntary cooperation to manage large, complex infrastructure like global supply chains or national transport systems without centralizing power. Not to mention 340 million in the United States alone. So we just let them suffer 🤷‍♂️

@xevekiah Deal. LFG!

if abortion is ILLEGAL, men abandoning their pregnant partners should be ILLEGAL too. if women can't opt out of PREGNANCY, then men shouldn't be able to opt out of FATHERHOOD either!

@Dove_and_Snake @ChrisMartzWX The only way is to do away with territorial monopoly (govt)

@ChrisMartzWX The best way is to heavily limit democracy. Not by intelligence, but some other life achievement metric that naturally filters them out.

I wish there was a way we could deal with stupid people. Or eliminate them. But doing so would be authoritarian and against my freedom-loving philosophy. It is a pickle to find oneself in. It’s just like when you die you don’t know you are dead, but everyone else feels the pain. The same applies to being an idiot.

@newstart_2024 It's just another flavor of suicidal empathy

Once institutions reach 50% women, they rarely stop there. Helen Andrews points out that many fields keep feminizing — 52%, 55%, 56%… and in psychology, it’s now 75% female graduate students. It’s not just women out-competing men and hitting natural balance. As environments become more feminized, they often start feeling unwelcoming to men: different conversation styles, more gossip and factions, less tolerance for certain kinds of debate. Men quietly leave, especially those drawn to the harder, more analytical sides of the field, which accelerates the shift. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing. Andrews suggests the only way to reverse it may be deliberately carving out spaces where men can work and debate in a more masculine way — without apology. It’s an uncomfortable but honest observation about how institutions quietly change character over time. Do you see this pattern playing out in fields you’re familiar with? Is there a healthy way to push back without turning everything into a gender war?

@CptAncapistan I'm just over here pouting waiting for state of decay 3

My favorite single-player games of all time, roughly ranked: Resident Evil 4 Metroid Prime Portal Super Mario 64 Horizon: Zero Dawn Mass Effect 2 The Last of Us TLoZ: Link's Awakening (Switch remake) Super Mario Galaxy Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Star Fox 64 TLoZ: The Wind Waker Beat Saber Conker's Bad Fur Day

@IanSpeir @JoyfullyJessica But that's not what it says...?

Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the State, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law. Please understand: - I do not practice immigration law. - I do not practice criminal law. - Nothing about my civil practice has anything to do with this. And yet because I cannot log into the State's official e-filing system without saluting The Resistance, I now cannot represent my clients, file lawsuits, access cases, file documents in existing cases, etc. If I click "Decline," it kicks me out of the system. I must click "Accept" to access the system and continue representing my civil clients -- again, in cases that have absolutely nothing to do with immigration law or policy. I've read SB 25-276 (the law referred to below). It does not regulate me as a private attorney or any of the clients I represent in civil matters. This is outrageous draconian overreach. I have ethical obligations to my clients to represent them competently. My existing cases have running deadlines that I must attend to. Judges issue orders in my cases that I must follow. If I don't click "Accept" in order to access the State's e-filing system, I will harm my clients, torpedo my practice, and probably commit malpractice. So, I have no choice. I'm clicking "Accept" under protest.

@sircoqdecombat @voth_brent They have busy work that doesn't teach. See graduation rates vs competency rates.

@voth_brent The schools do have to teach. They have criteria, standards, testing, etc

If you decide to pull your child from public school and homeschool your child You should get the full $13,000 for your child that would have been spent on your child in public school