I don’t have a dog, but seeing a happy dog is a sure way to brighten my day!

I remember a bunch of people seeming sincere about it, and a lot of money was wasted on it, including from companies like apple.

I never understood why. It was so obviously a doomed idea from day 1

The only amazing thing about the metaverse was that some people believed the hype, and that people paid to promote it could do it with a straight face.

I remember a lot of fanboys who just uncritically believe whatever the latest hype is. The problem for the metaverse is that those people move on quickly and are probaly all talking about “AI” nowadays

It sounds like you might have some unresolved issues from childhood. Your family didn’t respect your autonomy so now you’re maybe hyper vigilant about getting controlled by others?

Not being able to compromise even on small things like where to eat seems like it could become an issue. Do you really care about every little detail like that or are you just in constant defense mode?

There’s a lot of nice people out there you could safely compromise with on smaller things for mutual benefits, so it can be worthwhile to work on.

Being aware of it and examining it like you are now is a good first step.

Perhaps you could try to compromise on something tiny, with someone who hasn’t abused you, and see how it feels?

Yeah it’s not hugely effective

If the permanent members of the security council didn’t have veto powers they A: wouldn’t have joined, and B: would go “you and what army?” if people voted to force them to do something.

It’s just a way to keep a high level discussion going.

On biometrics btw: they’re worse against police who could force you to unlock the phone, but if your worry is someone seeing your pin, biometrics fixes that

You can restart the phone or activate lockdown mode before going to bed and be safe from someone sneaking your finger print

You can want or need privacy without it being nefarious in some way

Locking your phone, setting it to auto lock, using biometrics so the pin is hard to steal, etc are all perfectly reasonable things to do. You have a right to privacy

If you have abusive and technically skilled family who have been caught spying on you with technical means, worrying they might do it again would be reasonable

If you constantly worry about something that you have no tangible reason to consider a credible threat, it might be some other issue, from anxiety to OCD. Perhaps try to talk to a professional?

I don’t think that’s an accurate representation.

Covid happened. It hit most countries like that. Now he’s trying to balance things again, against intense opposition

The root cause is not recent. The french have been overspending for decades. Look at the debt to GDP ratio over time.

France has had two choices for a long time; continue overspending or balance the budget. They keep picking overspending.

Like Macron or not, but at least he’s trying to balance the budget. If he ends up failing, they’ll have to try again later, from a worse starting point, or over time descend into economic collapse

There’s no free lunch

They are enemy psy op actors, whether they know it or not

Wait, people narrate the words in their head? That must be insanely slow

They’re certainly old enough

I imagine the thought process is that it’s easier to do it now during the chaos than later when there’s some form of new government and organised defence.

They’re taking out capabilities so a new, possibly not Israel friendly government, won’t have them, and thus will be less of a threat.

It doesn’t make it ok of course.

Landlords are an effect of the system; it’s pretty pointless to shame them if you don’t change the system

Some countries tax properties higher if they’re not your primary residence for example. It might drive rents higher though

Because we don’t want kittens?