I think you might be thinking of former Rep. Jeff Jackson, who has done a few explainers on the budgetary charade.

I agree with you the main faux pas is trivializing things others hold sacred. Using costume to mock and make fun of any race or faith is different than wanting to embody it, which is where I think some cultural sensitivity policies sometimes mistakenly conflate. There is some nuance when it comes to historical and current power dynamics, certain costumes rooted in racism (e.g. blackface), which would be suitable justification to allow or bar certain specific costumes. However on the whole, I think ethnic cultures should be able to be expressed by anyone, when done in a positive, respectful manner.

Yeah generally dress up is fine, I think people shouldn’t be barred from wearing a costume just because their race doesn’t match. And for children especially, if they dress up to be a hero of a certain race, I think that is more representation of diversity in a good light.

However, IMO there is some due respect for that culture and it would be better to understand the significance of a dress one may wear, but if it’s intended well most should be fine with it. Using casual stereotypes and jokes cheapen the outfit which I think can be in bad taste.

Like as long as they don’t accompany it with racial slurs, I don’t think it’s a hate crime, just a bit cringey. It would be about the same level as if someone were to dress up as the Catholic Pope, a cardinal or a bishop and give people silly blessings.

It’s good, he’s the originator, but the reach in Europe is not that great and there have only been a few multilingual channels that have picked it up.

I’ve seen before it has been brought up in Linus’ longform streams.

I have no local experience to your area.

Curry’s / PC-World appear to be one of the UK chains, and Maplins for some stuff. They might have some helpful or unhelpful advice but you can use them as a pricing baseline (cursory research tells me they are overpriced), so seems about equivalent to Best Buy and Staples here across the pond. Online retailers seem to be a popular way to go there.

There are little shops around that would be helpful and although selection might be limited, they are often priced reasonably and have knowledgeable people. One I found was “The One Stop Computer Shop” in Sherwood Nottingham… I liked this review from a confused customer:

To keep good BIFL boots in shape over a period of many years and regular use, make sure you care for it, as they aren’t invincible to the elements over time. Wipe salt stains off a few times a month, apply waterproofing spray or cream before every winter, avoid roughly jamming your foot in if you can, replace soles every few years, then it will last you.

There’s hope yet for Montana’s future.

Interesting. Did the buyback offer eventually expire, or the buyback rates not increase? If either were the case, renewing it might continue to have benefits. Like I said, a good solution but not a permanent one.

It’s not going to be perfect, and unless you can stop the guns coming from the border it’s not a permanent solution, but maybe it can help a handful of struggling youngsters to stay out of gangs and crime rings.

I have still my FB account, messenger and whatsapp. I refuse to sign up for Instagram, which is a little awkward because so many in my generation use it…

I try to occasionally be connected but I do it through Beeper so that I don’t need the battery-draining data-zucking apps on my phone, since it interacts via a Matrix bridge hosted for me.

Because everyone loves their United-CVS-Kaiser Healthcare, right?

I feel for people affected by the wildfires and I agree that conspiracy theories are not helpful in disaster. Still L.A.Times has lost credibility with me.

Get Chairman Soon-Shiong to help the people of L.A. out. He seems to know a thing or two, on when to talk or not talk about things.

Yeah it’s totally going to change in 2 weeks, totally. He’s totally going to listen to anyone other than the people that give him seven figures plus of money. /s

I have been saying a number of times over the course of my time here, that I think the “echo chamber”-ness of Lemmy is by design.

Each instance is moderated by a different team of people who run their server under a different philosophy. You can see clearly in this thread many from the lemmy.ml instance express mild disdain for “liberals”, whereas other instances like lemmy.world and lemm.ee don’t hold such animosity to that collective extent, but admins hold other expectations for what should be the norm. The way I view the Fediverse is that it’s a collection of echo chambers, which within them help foster discussion between like-minded individuals. However these are networked with each other so you can wander outside that bubble to other instances when you feel like it. You also have control to block groups and instances you don’t vibe with.

I know some instance moderation policies remove posts and comments that go far against the grain, but in other instances, unpopular takes just get super downvoted but left for people to see.

Yeah of course that tool is cooler when you’re the one that gets to play with it rather than be played with.

Guess what MAGA, you got bought and sold down the river… Musk has little use for you now.

The very annoying thing about these big conglomerates is that they own dozens and dozens of brands… and even if you go to that brand’s site, it won’t show an address or contact info of the parent company.

TIL that Granville Island and Hop Valley Brewing is owned by Molson Coors. So if you’re in Vancouver looking for craft beer come and get Parallel 49, Steamworks or any of the multitude of other options there are here.

There is no serious need

I think this is perfect for people that do exercise, athletic training and sports. A smart watch is useful for heart rate monitoring, not needing to check your phone for distance measurements or notifications. A conventional digital watch can be a chronometer, timer, maybe heart rate if fancy but there are real benefits to the “smart” functionality.

Not everyone needs one of these, but there is a certain segment that smart watches are best for, and if there is one that has an open design and ecosystem compared to others like Samsung, Apple this is excellent.

Buddy, thanks for backing me up, but there are better places to start a chain of sarcastic backtalk than here.