In this forum probably it is not necessary, but in case you are new on this… HR is there to protect the company and just the company. If HR finds that getting rid of you is easier than of the problem you are complaining about, for the good of the company, they will boot you out. It is not been mean, it is for what they are paid for.

So true on the USSR.

On using personal narrative for advance I am fine, but has to be more or less genuine to the context. If I say that my neighbor is horrible because once took my lawnmower and never returned it back and leave the part that he bought me later on a better one because he broke mine… I have been completely disingenuous.

I hear you.

The Catalan police (Mossos), and I had always supported its creation and certain independence from the rest of police forces in Spain, has growth to become a bit too militarized for my taste.

I am not following their work on drug dealers, but the job they are doing with “terrorism” is appalling. There are cases of genuine terrorism but the majority, overwhelmingly majority, are not what they are selling to the media, and they have been doing this for more than a decade already… in brief portrayed disgruntled Muslim immigrants as “terrorists” for sharing files. I presume is half malice, half in a competition drive with the other police forces in Spain to gather recognition and medals. But I should not complain, in the US there is a lot of that too, I was just expecting better of that young and, supposedly, modern and agile police force.

Thanks for the clarification… sorry if it sounded I was going after you, actually I read your comment as you intended.

What I was venting about is about how the media that, today, works as memes only portrayed one side of her story… something like this meme does too. Now, if we are going to be that simplistic, this meme captures far more her experience under the Soviet rule than her moms after WWII.

Of course they would get GrapheneOS phones but does not make user a suspect, they also carry cash rather than credit cards, but not all people with cash should be a suspect!

The mayor problem in Barcelona is being the pickpocket capital of the world and the unregistered Airbnbs! Both are relatively easy to address (in conjunction with the legislative and judicial system), but are have not been tackled for 2 decades already. And please, don’t start suspecting guys with Nike sneakers and cross bags as pickpocketers now too! There are plenty, plenty of genuine methods to go after the bad guys than cheeking their phones or shoe wear… gosh, even civilians are tired of pinpointing at them to end up being completely ignored by that police!

Good Point! Yes I have been following MeRA25 / DIEM25 (gosh horrible name(s)!) and their podcast since 2 yrs ago and Yanis Varoufakis for more than a decade… great man yet so sad he is unable to connect Europeans. Of course, Brussels was able to permanently linked him with Greeceś default, when he was the very person denouncing the whole scheme. They need a marketing person (and a new name now since 25 is half over). I was tempted once to give him a great domain for a new European party. In any case, Amazing intelligent and humanistic guy, but his speeches sound too commie and too rancid. Even, over and over he proved himself right in international politics and economics and his new book positions him as very, very well verse in current technological affairs,yet Yanis, rather than being the front lead, he should be the mentor to someone can speak in today’s language.

It is true, the system in Europe highly penalizes pan-european or even pan-national parties in contrast a small highly concentrate party in a region, so one could consider to organize a coalition wave of small parties scattered across the EU. But I still think is is better to have a common name across Europe. This is a thing of talking to a few lawyers to see the possibilities.

Many Estonians were sent to Siberia… but we have to set the premise in the right here. Till 1950, for 1000 years, Estonia has been independent 22 years (after WWI and the Soviet revolution). Before Russia, for 1000 years, Germany, Sweden or Denmark owned Estonia.

After WWII, true the Soviets send many people to Siberia, a horrendous amount of people… but it comes with the caveat that Nazi Germany occupied for 4 years before so probably, the intent was to deport “collaborators”, although we know how these things are operated and probably many were completely innocent (in war we know how repugnant neighbors are to each other on reporting innocents.)

Now her mom did come back a decade later and apparently they made a very good life ever since. That is like if in the 1950s I was imprisoned for a decade (rightly or not) and for the next 3 decades I succeeded in the system and lived far better than my peers (and better than the overwhelming majority of Russians!) but I just self the story of 1950s… it is just disingenuous.

Don’t take me wrong, I believe in the preservation and even right of self-determination of people, myself come from one without it, but stop portraying like Estonians or Ukrainians were heavily discriminated by Moscow… they were not. Estonians were not the blacks in the US of 1800s, not even in the 1950s, nor were the Jews in Germany of 1930s but more like the Scots in UK or Basques in Spain. Many people were sent inhumanely and even criminally to Siberia but was proportional to either being suspected of being a collaborator, not for being Estonian or Ukrainian.

I celebrate that Estonia is an independent country and remains to be so for many decades to come, but play your cards right, be vary of Russian’s intentions as of the US’ or Germany; all three would not think it twice before throwing you under the bus the very moment they calculate to use you as a tool for their own gain. Finland in 1950-2010 knew how to operate in that environment; strength your defenses, but reassure you won’t be used by one or the other side; Finland thrived then.

The lands you are probably referring was the Mexican Cession (most of the US western lands now). That cession happened after the Mexican war that ended in the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo signed in 1848. So the map mostly accurately reflects that as US territory in 1850.

Insightful comment. I consider myself politically neutral yet I can tell apart when a genocide is happening, privacy violations, a ailing society, and a long etc. You are completely right with “socialist left needs to focus on is crafting its messaging in a way that resonates with the public”. I still not sure if socialism is a solution but gosh… if a wondering mind like me, gets with a rancid aftertaste when reading words like “means of production”, “capitalism”, “Marxist”… for real, the language needs to update and connect with people… It is like I say “we need to gather around the wireless to hear news”. (in 1910s radio was known as “wireless” from wireless telegraph)… it is a good statement but if i said some people simple will get confused with the term and the rest will know the term but simply think a person that uses those old references cannot possibly have the solution for today’s world problems.

I did check them… even interacted with one of their executive members but, besides the literature that found it mostly bland and ambiguous, did not find enthusiasm there for the change Europeans demand. Besides, being federalist, I think on the rest of policies they will accommodate to whoever they partner with on the center-left. I did not see a substantial audience with Volt’s message, maybe I should have spoken with more of their people. My search continues. Thanks SubArticTundra.

Thanks again, I see it like that. These days I predict the US has more chances of changing than Europe since the lack of social net will precipitate the demand for change more radically. Finally, what is your take on leftist parties in Europe such as Diem25 (I am not versed on the differences Marxist, leninist and that)?

Could not agree more here! Any group you follow there you see with a minimal grasp of reality?

I see how you feel with your Peertube song.

Of course, Lemmy is an amazing FOSS tool, just sad many people (if so) are a bit toxic… Of course, I was blamed in the past as troll, bot, pro-putin, pro-china, pro-european, pro-american… and few actually get involved in a insightful conversation. The way i see it, Lemmy (or any of these mediums) are just entertainment and our work should be in the real world, with your neighbors and physical communities.

No doubt, with more responsibilities there is always a tendency to conform more, but from there to vote blindly there is a stretch. I wonder what happened to the Pirate parties in Europe!! I am looking for a pan-European, not necessarily federalist party in Europe but the few available do not convince me… I am tempting to create one (partially joking)… or just give up and find a peaceful live in some coast.

The official Israeli CBS cites 50% of Israeli Jews having their ancestry in Europe, primarily Ashkenazi and post-Soviet groups… but of course, with DNA test ban in Israel is hard to know for sure… Being 75% of the Israeli population Jewish, that places it as 2/3 of Jews in Israel are from European origin… and that is their own stats. I would even say more are.

Let me know if you find a better venue… I am also disappointed in Lemmy. Is it so hard to find a place where people try to understand why things are one way and another before slapping each other.

I’d lived in a very swing state, in a very swing county and thanks to that predicted elections like no pollster did (even Trump in 2016 as he came down a escalator and every media laughed at him)… I saw no more malice in an average Trump voter than a Kamala one, I find a portion of them both as equally racist (some 30% I would say), one just is more vocal and explicit while the other chooses to express the racism passively aggressive… Two black family moved into our street and one Trumper told me that he does not like the “blacks in front” and a long time Democrat neighbor told me instead… that she was going to move to a better school district “because demographics”… what is the difference?

The theory is that. What is perplexing is how with so many countries, with so many stakeholders (voters, industries,…), the discipline is incredible. The Ursula case is interesting, the US did not like the candidates that was posed to win (Manfred Weber as probably saw on him as too patriotic German and Margrethe Vestager as too popular with Europeans with her antitrust cases on American companies)… so imposing ignoring the Spitzenkandidat system and resorting only to secretive backroom deals… it is amazing this is what the EU has become!!! It is no surprise most EU representatives in the parliament know no clue about the candidates and just follow party lines, but still… I would expect some more dissidents. Meloni in Italy is interesting too… her speeches were vociferously anti-establishment but the media was kind of passive with her… and no surprise, she is indeed perfectly inline with the establishment… but, the media were told to be nice with her before elections so the apparatus knew beforehand her real self! There is a vetting process before hand!

Screw me! I feel bad because instead of welcoming those now disenchanted MAGA, we are shunning them away and pushing them toward Musk’s new party and the like. We did same mistake after Trump’s 1st term too.

Germ theory was unknown then and those Spaniards lacked understanding of contagion, well I’m lying, the people then knew about contagion with blood and corpses but not through items like air or blankets. The disease spread, while catastrophic it was fully unintentional. The only accounts like the famed Bartolomé de las Casas described the diseases as “divine punishment” or “mysterious plague”, never as a warfare tool.

However with the British, again more than 2 centuries later, there was knowledge and intent as per Jeffrey Amherst and Colonel Henry Bouquet discussing it “Could it not be contrived to send the smallpox among the disaffected tribes?” “I will try to inoculate them with some blankets…” during the Siege of Fort Pitt (1763).