I am pretty aware of what those taxes pay for. But it doesn’t change the fact that they do exist and they are high. Regardless - in my country, lots of people are always complaining about high taxes, so whenever I see someone mentioning them, it doesn’t imply that they’re American.

Honest question, why? I’m not saying the guy doesn’t sound like an astroturfing attempt, but not because of those 50%. When I look at my payslip, I see that the money I get is 50% of the money I cost my employer. And that doesn’t include VAT I pay on everything.

I agree. I just don’t like the attitude where internet is already declaring “victory” when so far not much has been done.

I understand that people got angry (partially because of “Canada + Europe vs USA” stuff; partially because people are already pissed at Big Tech). I also understand that inside of niche communities people are trying to do something and are getting hyped.

The problem is when people start extrapolating the view of “their” community to the whole world. “Everyone is ditching big tech! I read about that every day! (In a community populated by likeminded people)”. And suddenly there are “victorious” headlines and people get complacent. “Yeah Big Tech, you lost… That’s what you get for messing with us”.

I might be preaching to the choir, but we shouldn’t get complacent this time.

I wouldn’t say they lost. Not by a long shot. I understand the sentiment of “let’s get rid of them! Now’s the best time to do that”. But there’s still A LOT to do to make that happen.

But obviously - let’s contribute to that as much as possible.

They would be dumb if they didn’t do that. Did anyone expect something else?

Matrix is pretty much that already.

I’m not sure if I understand, but how would you access those reminder lists on Android devices? Is that possible somehow?

That could be a solution, but the thing is, I’m trying to slowly migrate all of the tools I’m using to something that’s independent on the platform. To be able to freely switch between iOS and Android whenever I want. (Preferrably to a degoogled Android). I’m also the person in our household who brings the new alternative, test it, make sure it will work crossplatform with other family members and so on…

As of now I’m still not ready to “jump the ship”, but I want to gather portfolio of tools to be able to do so at any time without significant discomfort (especially cnsidering other family members which are less open to experimentation)

I have long hair and I use similarly looking solid shampoo. What I do is, that I rub it in both hands and it foams quite quickly and heavilly. Then when I have both hands full of foamy soap, I rub it in hair and wash them similarly to how I would with a liquid shampoo. Maybe it sounds weird, but it’s pretty quick and effortless. But it’s very dependent on how good the soap foams. If you have a solid shampoo that doesn’t foam well, you would need to repeat this procedure multiple times and could be annoying.

I like Slovak brand Soaphoria. They’re focused on making ecological and natural products. Especially their solid shampoos are great (it’s also worth noting, that they’re only packaged in a paper box, not in a big plastic bottle).

Other brand that I like (even though it’s not really a hair-shampoo brand) is Floris London. They only have a single shampoo, but I have very good results out of that. But this one is a bit on the pricier side compared to Soaphoria.

I can only speak from my very limited experience. My father is the very example of a person who has some beliefs and tries to judge whole world through those beliefs. Everyone who doesn’t share those beliefs is an enemy. If you don’t believe in extreme opinion A, you automatically have to believe in extreme opinion B which is the opposite of A. You probably know such people.

Over last years, we yelled at each other lots of times, but that lead to nowhere. What actually helped was that finding the common ground. To make him understand that just because I don’t agree with his side, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m shilling for the other one. Not everything is bipolar. From my father’s perspective, everyone has to be either pro-Russian or pro-American (which is funny from today’s perspective, but I guess you get my point). You point out that Russia did something bad? He will tell you “Yeah and USA did <something>! You don’t have an issue with that”. And that’s the thing. To make him understand, that I DO have an issue with that. World is not a football match where you have to take a side and fully commit to it. You don’t have to go “full in” on a topic. Your opinion can be nuanced based on the actual topic, not just dumbed down into “my side thinks that A, so I agree with A. Your side thinks that B, so you have to agree with B”.

Before that I never had much success in having a proper discussion. It always ended up in a screaming match, because he wasn’t listening to arguments. He simply knew, that I had the “other” opinion, so my opinion was automatically wrong. Now he knows, that I don’t fully agree with anyone. He now somehow understands that my opinions are based on a set of principles, not on a tribalistic “my team” vs “your team”. And by understanding that, he’s more open to actually having a discussion on a topic, not just trying to convert me from “bad side” to “good side”.

And don’t get me wrong. He still believes in what he believes in. But he’s more open to accepting that not everything “his side” says is automatically correct. And that by itself is a small victory for me.

Well, also the people that are suddenly drafted to fight will lose a lot. For a lot of people it’s a question to choose between:

• Do I fight for my country (that I don’t necessary align with)
• Do I wait until the enemy gets here and drafts me to fight for him

And while the first option is not great, the second one sounds a lot worse.