SecondJon @SecondJon@qoto.org

How to win in business and limit independent thought :

Step 1: put your competitors out of business by being the place that has it all.

Step 2: with competitors out of business or limited to tiny market share, begin changing your model to only give access to things that match your ideology.

Step 3: having established your business as the market leader, push for new legislation over your market category so that only you can handle the additional overhead and keep competition down.

Amazon. YouTube. Google. Facebook.

In the news : Amazon pulls books by authors who once identified as gay, lesbian

Following the removal of books by a Catholic psychologist amid LGBT activist pressure, Amazon has removed the works of other authors who once lived and identified as gay.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/amazon-pulls-books-by-authors-who-once-identified-as-gay-lesbian.html

Here on mastodon there's always been the offer the top comments line : if you disagree with me you're a fascist and a nazi and people like you should be physically attacked into silence.

Then gab is going to join and proud open federation turns into demands for censorship, and I think : well they called me, someone who disagrees with everything that nazis and fascists stand for, a nazi and a fascist. This is certainly just more of the same : a desire for an echo chamber instead of the open web that's been nearly lost.

Now gab has joined and I'm wondering whether it's in effect not much more than a shelter for trolls who want to spam threads with garbage.

On the one hand people want to use open tools to shut down others through mandate and defederation, in the other side, is it going to be a group who wants to shut down others by shouting over them?

We need more like qoto: the desire to treat others with excellence while having and discussing different ideas.

I thought it silly that people would complain that a mythical creature (Ariel the mermaid movie I've never seen) was recast to be black in a remake, so I watched a video about it, thinking it would be ridiculous or racist, but I heard a line that has me thinking :

this is condescending pandering thinking that the black audience needs a black character, but instead of getting their own character with a story, they get a ******* hand me down.

(2 thoughts : are the voices in the dem primary leading to more approving of Trump's term? And I do wonder whether they asked the "unpresidential" question in polls regarding the past Presidents.)

Poll: Trump's approval rating hits highest point of presidency

President Trump's approval rating has surged to the highest level of his presidency...

In addition, 65 percent of respondents said Trump has acted in an "unpresidential" way since taking office. Twenty-eight percent said he has acted in a "fitting and proper" way. 

#uspol

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/451858-poll-trumps-approval-rating-hits-highest-point-of-presidency

#Antifa Shatters Mirror In Attempt To Punch #Nazi

PORTLAND, Or - A member of Antifa, Dustin Day, injured himself over the weekend while attempting to punch a nazi he spotted. "So I had my mask on and was ready to fight any nazis that came to Portland -- because I guess the city is full of them -- and then I saw one," explained Day. "You could tell from just one look at the guy that he was..."

https://babylonbee.com/news/antifa-shatters-mirror-in-attempt-to-punch-nazi

‘To God Be the Glory!’: Michigan Church Wipes Away Medical Debt For Almost 2,000 Families

A Michigan Church has put its faith into action by paying off the medical debt of almost 2,000 families. Wyoming […]

https://www.faithwire.com/2019/07/03/to-god-be-the-glory-michigan-church-wipes-away-medical-debt-for-almost-2000-families/

Let's take a quick sec to appreciate the fact that demands for government-provided health care, jobs, debt relief, housing, cash grants, etc. are coming from a party that used to say things like, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

@adam4d@twitter.com

https://mobile.twitter.com/Adam4d/status/1146855629828632577

Ahaha. So Harris destroys Biden in debate over a position they both share. #uspol #democrats #harris #biden

Harris says busing should be considered, not mandated

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Kamala Harris said Wednesday that busing students should be considered by school districts trying to desegregate their locations — not the federal mandate she...

https://apnews.com/586b1e81cb684654b0cf689b9074c1cb