Posts by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
(DIR) Post #AahjmFnUr5motisBCy by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-10-10T13:04:30Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Jacob Rees-Moron wants the UK to abandon the metric system and return to using prehistoric imperial units. I'm interested to see what people's opinion about this is please vote and boost!
(DIR) Post #Ac3qZfJTEQJ2eX6SFE by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-11-21T22:11:42Z
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@deathkitten @USSJoshuaNorton I call my country, the UK, a shithole but I have never heard an American call their country that - I'm warming to you already!
(DIR) Post #Ac3qZhHPv1qskk9qK0 by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-11-22T09:33:11Z
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@deathkitten I had had little contact with Americans until I moved to Thailand back in 2015. Over there, there are a surprising number of American retirees who moved there to try to eke out their Social Security pension.In conversation with the Americans in Thailand, the subject of universal healthcare or the absence thereof in America often came up. Any attempt by me to suggest that American healthcare was utter shit and that just about every other civilised country in the entire world has managed to implement universal healthcare one way or another would elicit an utterly explosive response. Suggesting, as I always did during these conversations, that Bernie Sanders is right and that Medicare needs to be the default healthcare insurance system for every single resident of the USA, seemed to equate to suggesting barbecuing human babies alive for supper!I found that saying absolutely anything that could be construed as any kind of criticism no matter how mild of the United States of America would elicit a reaction that was totally and completely over the top.
(DIR) Post #Ac85taCEF1CSWHVk0m by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-11-24T10:54:26Z
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@kravietz @deathkitten Yes, I have noticed that "the way things are in childhood", is absorbed into the deepest reaches of one's psyche as 'the right, proper and correct way for things to be' and that anyone suggesting change that threatens that harmonious state of affairs is a charlatan and a wrecker of all things good and wholesome!What a sad fuckin species we are!
(DIR) Post #Ac9esRZqUaXr3Ii4WG by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-11-25T05:13:02Z
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@freemo Some years ago, I ran a business with friend who was black. I was round his place one night whilst there was a programme about the USA in the 50 and 60 on TV. It occurred to me that, during the time I had known him, there were quite a few places in the southern states of the USA where it would have been, if not unlawful, at least inadvisable for me to go into a bar with my partner for a beer. Maybe there still are.
(DIR) Post #AcQWh0AIZb5su6713Q by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-12-03T08:01:25Z
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(DIR) Post #Aco1QWw1wT8VQfNpvE by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-12-14T16:08:28Z
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(DIR) Post #Ad6WRYXYv4gka9PLvM by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-12-23T14:01:18Z
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Interesting! I wonder how many deaths have occurred due to the immune system consequences of measles rather than directly by the disease itself.This, it seems to me, makes vaccination against this disease all the more indispensable!https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211112-the-people-with-immune-amnesia
(DIR) Post #AdMNVEBhH3orgxS2TY by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-02-13T15:07:27Z
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@elaterite Welcome to Mastodon!!Love the photo!
(DIR) Post #AdMNVF63tUuEVlp3Ka by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-02-13T20:05:14Z
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@elaterite I too an an enthusiastic photographer but I do mainly wildlife especially butterflies.This one of my favourites:
(DIR) Post #AdV7JqJHrOjzbjBqN6 by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2023-12-31T16:59:31Z
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Well fuck me gently! WTF is this utter twaddle?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Spirit-Board-Games/dp/B09QH3HC72/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2P7NI0TZJ2HWQ&keywords=Holy+spirit+board&qid=1704041775&sprefix=holy+spirit+board%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-5
(DIR) Post #Adc9uhiBs7DKISYZ28 by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-01-07T21:04:48Z
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@freemo I'm a Brit living in Luxembourg and am therefore an immigrant. One of the most annoying habits of Brits living in foreign countries is to describe themselves as 'expats'. Like they are a cut above the rest of us mere immigrants!
(DIR) Post #AdcBGXphNjmRz02xOq by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-01-07T21:19:58Z
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@freemo Yes, but the problem with it is that I have never once heard of the epithet 'expat' applied to anyone except a white man or woman. Generally, the way it is used by Brits is definitely to maintain the social distinction between themselves and other foreigners of different skin colour or doing more lowly jobs; a sort of way of extending the still very prevalent class system from the UK to lands further afield
(DIR) Post #AdfUUeMo40hgYeYcLY by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-01-09T11:39:32Z
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@freemo To be explicit about this I do not consider myself to be any different to the 1000s of refugees who call Luxembourg their home nor indeed to the 1000s of others who, like me, for one reason or another, moved to Luxembourg to make a living. Living in Luxembourg shines a bright spotlight on the immigrant -v- expat question as an astonishing 47%+ of the population of Luxembourg are immigrants (yes, that isn't a typo - the official government figure is more than 47% of Luxembourg residents, were born outside the country making them immigrants like me). Even more surprisingly, taking the population of the capital city alone, more than 70% of population are immigrants - yes 70%!I never intended to remain in Luxembourg for the 20 years that I have lived here and certainly didn't anticipate retiring here although that is what has happened. At what stage did I morph from being an 'expat' into an immigrant, I wonder? (I'm a white, sedentary, office worker and therefore absolutely "entitled" to call myself an expat according to the way that I have seen it used)
(DIR) Post #Aj1L8W2FFmlh7SJYjA by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-06-17T13:57:26Z
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@aral Frankly, I'd say they are off their fuckin heads! Whatever they have been smoking, I don't want any!700+ Euros for a Linux tablet.I can get a competent laptop for that money or a decent Android tablet for 100€ to 200€
(DIR) Post #ApPc87eLd97DUAOISG by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-23T07:13:24Z
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@freemo @randahl I would imagine we would agree that one of the ultimate goals if not THE ultimate goal of human life is happiness. That generally comes from living in a society where wealth is equitably distributed not one where the gap between rich and poor is monstrous. The happiest populations in the world are normally adjuged to be in countries where tax rates are amogst the highest in the world and are slanted very much towards enforcing income equality not letting the extremely get richer! The put it bluntly we need cleaners, refuse collecters, nurses, teachers, refuse collectors and others who do relatively menial tasks very much more than we need the entirely parasitic Elon Musks and the Jeff Bezos's of this world. I would therefore tax people with such obscene wealth at 99% once they reached a level of wealth that would leave them comfortably off for the rest of their lives!
(DIR) Post #ApPc8AI7oE7bg715jU by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-24T21:06:20Z
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@freemo @randahl 'Equitably does not mean equally; it means fairly!It is nonsense to suggest everyone should have the same amount in their bank account! It is not nonsense to say that everyone in society should receive a fair share of society's earnings and profits.
(DIR) Post #ApPc8C2FKEbn5RbRGC by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-25T09:09:54Z
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@freemo @randahl ...so are you naïve enough to you think Bezos got rich due to his own "hard work" - of course he didn't! He got rich by exploiting other people's hard work!The conditions Amazon workers endure are appalling in most countries.
(DIR) Post #ApPc8DjszT6uN51nv6 by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2024-12-25T11:51:52Z
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@freemo @randahl Paying them a salary that is so low that no one could possibly live on it, is 'exploiting' people or do you have a polite euphemism for paying starvation wages like 'what the market dictates'?
(DIR) Post #B1uTwsmQm4FxyVCCAK by Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
2026-01-03T14:04:21Z
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@lowqualityfacts How very, VERY american!