Discussion
John | @john #US #Navy #Submarine #veteran ⚓ and 20+ year #Technology professional. I’ve launched CoreSignal as a digital “hard reset” to prioritize intentionality over algorithms—seeking connectivity in pursuit of connection.
I am still early in my #Stoic journey, practicing prosoche through the #Enchiridion and learning to “grab the smooth handle”.
When I’m away from the terminal, I’m exploring my #JohnnyDecimal categories (301/302), growing #wildflowers, and practicing #photography —a hobby I’ve tinkered with since my high school medium-format days, though I remain a dedicated student of the lens. 🌸📸
Interestingly, the word "lord" comes from the Old English hlāford, meaning "loaf guardian" or "keeper of the bread."
Together, the words lady and lord show that sustaining the household was a role of great responsibility and respect.
@Oggie@woof.group @thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io Playing the first episode right now. Thanks for the recommendation!
FLASHBACK: Just two days ago, MeidasTouch reported that the official government website had mysteriously changed the number of American service members killed in the Iran war from 18 to 14. Now, the New York Times has confirmed this change was made.
BREAKING: Iran has reportedly rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal delivered to Tehran by Iraq's prime minister after his meeting with Trump
Generation X (1965–1980):
• Ages 46 to 61
• Looking somewhere between 29 and “none of your business”
• Didn’t grow up sheltered — we were basically turned loose outdoors
• Independent at 10; still refusing to act like adults at 50
• Our childhood would make a modern parent group chat implode
Which is why our internal mantra remains: “It’ll work out. I’ve got this.”
Generation X (1965–1980):
• Ages 46 to 61
• Looking somewhere between 29 and “none of your business”
• Didn’t grow up sheltered — we were basically turned loose outdoors
• Independent at 10; still refusing to act like adults at 50
• Our childhood would make a modern parent group chat implode
Which is why our internal mantra remains: “It’ll work out. I’ve got this.”
@SordidAmok@mastodon.social @mlanger@mastodon.world @GayDeceiver@mstdn.social @nxskok@cupoftea.social @Strandjunker@mstdn.social
Didn’t grow up sheltered — we were basically turned loose outdoors
...and drank from the water hose!
NEWS: WV GOP Assistant Majority Leader Elliott Pritt has been arrested and charged with enticing a minor after allegedly grooming a 15-year-old through Roblox and Snapchat, then having her meet him in his classroom.
GOP leadership won't call for his resignation.
As a reminder, Pete Hegseth was pushed out of TWO veterans nonprofits amid financial mismanagement allegations, running groups into debt, overspending on parties/events, and treating funds like personal accounts.
Now, he has just about bankrupted the Pentagon despite a record budget and is demanding another $1.5 trillion.
Mozilla are pathetic, Firefox is back to posting on X/Twitter.
@gamingonlinux@mastodon.social @briankrebs@infosec.exchange Can one be "an independent voice" on X/twitter?
Because Conservatives love America like a four-year-old loves mommy.
The real reason conservatives hate Nolan’s “Odyssey”
https://www.salon.com/2026/07/21/the-real-reason-conservatives-hate-nolans-odyssey/
#TrumpMustGo #KingOfTreason #RepublicansDidThis #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
If that doesn't make you barf, Axios reports the new Truth API provides real-time access to posts from the platform's top 10 trending accounts.
"In the future, the API can be expanded to more accounts for customers willing to pay more, McGurn says."
"Those accounts include decision makers who impact policy and geopolitical outcomes, such as President Trump (@realDonaldTrump), the White House (@WhiteHouse), FBI Director Kash Patel (@kash), White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (@seckennedy)."
@cdarwin@c.im Congrats!
TRUMP DIARRHEA OUTBREAK: Cyclosporiasis cases are surging now across 40+ states, a severe diarrhea outbreak linked to contaminated produce. Reports indicate Trump admin CDC changes made Cyclospora surveillance optional and restructured the parasitic diseases division.
Trump is back in full-on escalatory, warmongering mode.
On Fox just now he threatened that next week he'll knock out Iran's power plants and bridges, he wouldn't rule out a ground campaign, and refused to say whether he's going after Kharg Island because it'd be "foolish" to reveal that.
It all reeks of desperation.
NEWS: Senate Democrats blocked a $1.15 trillion defense bill, saying they refuse to advance a massive Pentagon funding package after Trump launched the Iran war without congressional authorization. The procedural vote failed 50-46, short of the 60 votes needed.
The best place to find out about #Fediverse #events around the world is https://fediforum.org/events/ .
A surveillance company plans to add sensors to automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)
that would capture not only the license plate of passing vehicles, but also sweep up unique identifiers of mobile phones, wearables, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices in those cars,
-- potentially letting law enforcement identify specific drivers or passengers.
The technology, called #SignalTrace, would turn ALPR cameras from devices focused on tracking cars to ones that can track the location of particular people.
ALPR cameras have become a commonly deployed technology all across the U.S.
Looks like there's more than one hero Tom Holland. https://www.comicsands.com/musk-holland-odyssey-backlash?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram
@georgetakei@universeodon.com Lupita isn't even the first woman of color to play Helen of Troy.
Orson Welles' 1950 Paris stage production of Time Runs, which cast a 22-year-old Eartha Kitt as Helen of Troy. Her performance earned widespread acclaim and helped launch her international acting career
There is no denying the seriousness of the threat posed by Trump.
He is trying to implement the classic autocrat’s playbook
by chipping away at the restraints on executive authority.
He has made dangerous inroads,
but in most cases,
the opposition has been significant.
A struggle is under way, and the prospects for his success are dimming.
The Republican-led Congress has been most disappointing.
It has largely swallowed Trump’s excesses because its Republican members fear him mounting a primary challenge against anyone who resists him.
Bowing to his will, they enacted his “big beautiful bill” to cut taxes for the rich and healthcare for the working class.
They discovered their backbones only recently to oppose funding for his ballroom,
a slush fund for his cronies, and his proposal for voter suppression.
The courts have a better, if mixed, record.
More than 300 lawsuits have contested Trump administration actions,
many of them at least temporarily successful.
The supreme court has handed Trump victories on campaign finance, immigrant deportation, racial gerrymandering and executive power over most independent agencies.
It has also largely placed the president above the rule of law.
But even the court with its presumptive 6-3
pro-Trump majority blocked his efforts to impose tariffs,
limit mail-in voting,
remove a member of the Federal Reserve board,
and restrictbirthright citizenship.
Outside government,
the media remains strong, despite Trump’s efforts through libel suits and regulatory oversight to restrain it.
For example, his pressure on the corporate owners of CBS News, who needed government permission for a merger, was followed by the appointment of a controversial editor-in-chief who seems to have inserted herself in ways that are friendly to the administration.
She has now overseen the exodus of a major part of the storied 60 Minutes staff.
Worryingly, the same owner is now taking over CNN.
The billionaire Jeff Bezos was once viewed as a savior of the Washington Post.
He easily could have afforded to run it even at a loss as a quasi-charitable public service.
But seemingly worried about antagonizing the Trump administration to the detriment of his major business interests,
he fired much of the Post’s international staff and lost columnists and its political cartoonist to perceived editorial interference.
Yet significant independent voices remain,
showing the importance of ownership by people whose financial interests are not as vulnerable to Trump’s meddling
(the Sulzbergers for the New York Times)
or by not-for-profits with no external business interests (the Guardian).
Social media platforms, even Elon Musk’s X,
remain venues for endless exposés and criticism of Trump’s excesses.
So do proliferating podcasts.
Universities, a vital source of expertise for monitoring and challenging government action, have largely weathered the storm.
Trump has tried to rein them in, especially by withholding government grants for science and medical research.
That has created financial hardship and hurt American innovation,
but only a handful of universities cut deals with the administration,
most disturbingly Columbia.
Harvard sued the administration,
and no university joined a Trump-proposed compact that would have given them preferential access to government funding in return for permitting greater government intrusion on university independence and academic freedom.
Several major law firms struck deals after Trump threatened to bar them from dealing with government agencies.
Yet they were pilloried for agreeing to provide millions of dollars worth of pro bono services for causes of Trump’s choosing.
Other law firms fought back successfully – and brought some of the lawsuits against the administration.
They have reportedly benefited from clients who prefer lawyers who stand up, rather than capitulate, to the administration.
Civil society remains threatened but largely untouched.
Groups such as the ACLU have taken the lead in many lawsuits.
Others such as Human Rights Watch are strong critics of Trump’s foreign policy.
Trump brought concocted criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, and organizations that depend on government funding are self-censoring,
but the cacophony of voices from all political views remains impressive.
Confidence Is Not the Same as Truth: What my mother, social media influencers, and AI hallucinations have in common
Install CoreSignal social
Get the full app experience
