@ChrisMayLA6 having been an American (paying worldwide income taxes) living in Switzerland (paying worldwide wealth tax), I will say that the wealth tax was not that much - like around 0.5% of net wealth.
Pro democracy / anti nazi / anti fascist / anti MAGA / anti crypto bros. Right now there is not much I do like. I follow educated people who have IMO intelligent insights on things. If you want to know and understand more than you do, follow people who know and understand more than you do. Also applies to inspiring / funny people / journalists / photographers. (There is a lot of overlaps in those groups and following intelligent people). TL;DR - I boost a lot and follow smart / insightful / funny people and occasionally have something to say.
ReToots / Likes does not signify endorsement / agreement.
PS - Really do not want to follow anybody @bird.makeup and will not link to the (formerly known as) bird site.
background image: to make the math easier .
@ChrisMayLA6 having been an American (paying worldwide income taxes) living in Switzerland (paying worldwide wealth tax), I will say that the wealth tax was not that much - like around 0.5% of net wealth.
Martin Sandbu (FT) identifies four myths about wealth taxes:
Its too hard to do - well that hasn't stopped both Switzerland & Norway doing it (pretty well);
It won't actually raise much money - both countries above it raises substantial revenue;
It will scare the rich away - well it seldom does & then often they go to Switzerland (err, that has wealth taxes);
It will depress investment - no evidence backs up this claim.
So there we have it; wealth taxes are clearly possible!
Slavery reconstituted is exactly what Trump's billionaires want, an entirely unpaid workforce is the agenda.
They have that with unpaid social media moderators & unpaid content makers now. Convict leasing schemes. Prison farming. They intend to keep it.
Dynastic wealth built on slavery created the last Gilded Age for robber barons.
Persistent apathy predicts faster functional decline in Alzheimer’s disease
https://www.psypost.org/persistent-apathy-predicts-faster-functional-decline-in-alzheimers-disease/
Trump posted this denial on Truth Social a year and a half ago after actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted an AI created image of him on Epstein’s plane. Ruffalo apologized, but a year later the Trump DoJ released the Epstein flight logs showing Trump in fact appeared on them seven times. So he was lying here, and he’s been lying this whole time.
I'm w/those who recognize many details DOJ has abt details of Epstein sex trafficking won't come out. But it's worth noting that, per @wyden.senate.gov, Scott Bessent is refusing to share details abt prominent FUNDERS of Epstein (or vice versa). www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-memb...
Trump's Former VP Mike Pence Calls For Releasing 'All Of The' Epstein Files
[facetious]
Definitely doesn't look guilty at all.
[/facetious]
So I had a dental cleaning today and I told them I’ve been having some sensitivity, so they did some x rays and checking to find nothing wrong. The dentist said seasonal allergies can cause sinus inflammation that can irritate the roots and cause tooth sensitivity.
So I learned something new today.
On this day in 1962 the pint-size Davy Crockett atomic weapon system was tested in the Nevada desert
http://www.damninteresting.com/davy-crockett-king-of-the-atomic-frontier/
So this was a lucky photo that I didn't even know I had taken.
I composed this symmetrical scene at St Paul's London Underground station, & then suddenly loads of people rushed to catch the train. It was only when I was editing at home that I noticed I had captured a hat man!
How to Tell If Someone Is a Criminal (According to the #Trump #DHS) - The Atlantic
“The total lack of any evidence against them, except that Trump border czar Tom Homan thought they seemed suspicious, is just proof of what good criminals they are.
Evidence, schmevidence!
All you need to do is look at them, listen to them!”
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/07/dhs-criminal-alligator-alcatraz/683572/
@davep
Thoroughly enjoyed Murderbot first season and am looking forward to season 2, which has been greenlit. It's good, clean fun, and Alexander Skaarsgard manages to charm even as he plays an emotionless robot.
Two thumbs up!
#Murderbot
Built from scratch in the late 1990s in the then-relatively new C++, it evolved into a real-time microkernel OS for handhelds, with the radical EKA2 microkernel designed by Dennis May and documented in detail in the book Symbian OS Internals. https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/17/symbian_forgotten_foss_phone_os/
Nancy Pelosi Reveals The Cold Truth About Why Republicans Won't Cross Trump
#TrumpFearFactor #RepublicanLoyalty #USPolitics #PoliticalPowerDynamics #GOPTrumpSupport
Remember when Pizza Hut pan pizzas were basically a goddamn culinary delicacy? They’d bring them out in a real fucking skillet that was piping at about 700 degrees Fahrenheit right as your third song kicked in on the jukebox after you’d played a game of Galaga. We were kings.
A man grew tired of all the foolishness around him and went hiking in the woods. He found a big oak tree knocked over by a storm, and its roots torn from the earth revealed an opening that appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Faint music was coming from within and there seemed to be small lights in the darkness. So he lit his lantern and crawled inside.
There, he found a group of gnomes who welcomed him warmly and invited him to eat and drink with them, as long as he had some songs for them. So he began singing and drinking for three days, until he passed out from the strong beer the gnomes had given him.
The next morning, he woke up in front of the cave. He had a terrible hangover and stumbled back home. But there, he discovered that – while he had been carousing with the gnomes – three hundred years had passed in the world above. Yet he realised that people hadn’t become any wiser than they had been before.
He shrugged and turned back toward the woods. As he walked, he began humming a new melody and some rhymes came to his mind. Hopefully, they would be enough for a few more centuries.
I just saw this video in the orange site and at first I thought....I get he hates math. But what really claimed my attention is the top comment, it goes like this
> The study suggests that engaging executive functions, which are often challenging for individuals with ADHD, may lead to increased physical activity or fidgeting as a way to help regulate attention and focus.
> Basically the fidgeting doesn’t mean he’s not paying attention rather the opposite
> The fidgeting is part of how people with adhd digest information
> Since Star Wars doesn’t require thinking he remains still
> https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10802-017-0338-x