Microsoft has the ability to do this if they really wanted to. It would completely destroy their business if they did, though, so they won’t. I mean, who would keep using Microsoft products if the company was willing to just take it away from you at a moment’s notice?

The US government cannot do it so easily. They’d have to order Microsoft to do so. Microsoft would resist and take it to court. The US Court system makes a LOT of really fucked up rulings, but the one thing they do reliably is side with big business. I’m inclined to think that in this hypothetical showdown, the courts would side with Microsoft.

If we’re giving them the benefit of the doubt, which I don’t think most deserve, there’s also a theological argument. For religious people (specifically Christians), they believe that people are made to God’s plan. If you are born male, they believe that’s what God intended. So changing your gender is, in their mind, blasphemy against God because it’s denying his plan for you.

Of course, this argument completely falls apart when you draw the parallel to people who change their hair color, get corrective or cosmetic surgery, etc. God also intended you to be blonde with bad eyesight, but you dyed your hair and got Lasik.

But the real answer is just bigotry. They try to rationalize their bigotry, and may not even recognize it as bigotry themselves, but that’s what it is.

I know when they were threatening to pull out of OnlyFans and Pornhub, the big concern the payment processors cited was child abuse. I don’t know to what degree that’s the entire story, so take it with a grain of salt.

Their complaint was that the primary method those sites had to prevent child porn from being uploaded was reports from other users. By definition, this means that the site has to allow the child porn to be uploaded, and only then takes it down after it’s been reported. So someone must have seen it before it gets removed. They said they didn’t want to be associated with sites that share child porn. That’s why PornHub removed a TON of amateur content and changed their rules so that all users who upload content have to be verified on the site. That’s their new control to prevent child porn.

I’m generally not particularly picky when I’m listening to music. I don’t often want just one specific song or artist. Usually I’m looking for a genre/vibe and that’s it.

With that in mind, I prefer Pandora. I’ve been using it for ~20 years now and have a lot of VERY well curated stations. I also don’t mind the ads so much, and, therefore, have never had to pay for it. On the rare occasions I want a very specific song, I can just pull it up on YouTube.

My wife and I recently sprung for a Spotify account. We have a 3 yo and 5 yo and, like most children, they want to listen to a few specific albums on repeat. We had Amazon Music for a bit, but really disliked it. So we switched to Spotify. I mostly only use it to play music for my kids.

Right now, it would likely harm other countries at least as much as the US. We’re just too interconnected into every aspect of the global economy. Cutting off the US cuts off a lot of services that other countries rely on.

But, Trump’s current foreign policy is driving countries away from the US fast. Give it a few years for countries to disentangled themselves from the US and it would likely be more effective without harming themselves in the process.

I truly believe John Darnielle is the most talented working poet right now.

Tomas Kalnoky (bands include Catch 22, Streetligh Manifest, Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, and Toh Kay) is one of the best songwriters of all time, IMO. His lyrics resonate very well with me.

Pat the bunny (Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Ramshackle Glory, Wignut Dishwashers Union, etc) is another great lyricist. While they don’t always speak directly to my personal life experiences, I’ve known a lot of people like those he describes, and his politics match mine closely.

John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) is just a beautiful poet and puts a TON of emotion into his guitar playing. I truly believe he’s the greatest living poet working right now.

Came here to mention exactly this. It aired for 4 seasons during the late 90s. I watched it weekly with my family when I was a kid.

IIRC, the ending and lore left it wide open for a reboot, although they’d have to drastically change the framing away from a print newspaper.

Did you read the post?

It’s not that kind of protest. I’ve been to plenty of that kind of protest, and this isn’t that kind.

Right? How can one be brave if they’re not afraid? Isn’t the definition of bravery doing a thing even though you’re scared to?

There was a book that came out in 2010 titled Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. It’s an analysis of the insurance industry (not just healthcare, but with a special focus on healthcare) that details how insurance companies operate to delay approvals of insurance claims, deny insurance claims, and defend wrongful denials in court. It basically shows how it is cheaper for insurance companies to not pay lawful claims and fight them in court than to pay out claims.

When Luigi Mangione killed the UHC CEO last year, he left behind 3 bullet shells at the scene of the murder with the words “Delay”, “Deny” and “Depose” written on the bullet shells. It was a pretty clear reference to the book, and was the first indication (before Mangione was caught) as to the motive of the shooting.

So, given that you don’t live near DC, what are you doing?

This is an honest question.

As an ACAB myself, I think we’ll appreciate the sign very much.

Completely agree on that last point. I don’t really expect we’ll see completely fair and open elections in this country for a while, if ever again.

No, we need people. All kinds of people. As many people as we can possibly get. Absolutely NOBODY who is considering attending a protest should be told to stay home.

I attend protests all the time. Ever since my early 20s (which was over 15 years ago) I’ve made it a point to attend at least 1 protest every month. For the past 8 years that’s been closer to weekly than monthly. I have plenty of experience at protests. My question here is solely about the phrasing for my sign.

I’m not a liberal. Thanks.

I appreciate your optimism, but I do not share it and have seen no evidence to support it.

I do protest in DC. Often. I was at one last weekend. I am unable to go into the city this weekend. I have about 2 free hours while my kids will be in a class, so I’m trying to use that time to participate where I can.

I don’t need a lecture. I know what I’m doing and when and where I’m able to participate. I am solely looking for advice on whether this one sign might lead to problems or not.