themeatbridge

@themeatbridge@lemmy.world

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She Made an Offer on a Condo. Then the Seller Learned She Was Black. ( www.nytimes.com )

Two federal laws — the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the much older Civil Rights Act of 1866 — make it illegal for both home sellers and their real estate agents to discriminate during a home sale. But more than 50 years after redlining was outlawed, racial discrimination remains an issue, housing advocates say. A multiyear...

themeatbridge ,

I worked as a realtor, and it's a narrow path between steering and gentrification. Buyers are very specific about the neighborhoods where they want to look, and you need to be dilligent in documenting communications along with maintaining an open mind about communities.

That said, an alarming number of agents I met were overtly prejudiced. I worked in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs, and I worked with agents who would not take on certain ethnic groups, would not show homes in certain communities, and would outright refuse to work with realtors for a variety of bigoted reasons. It was weird, considering how hard it is to find clients and close deals, and these weren't just the elite successful agents who could afford to turn down work.

The trick, I was told once in hushed tones by a veteran agent, is to use the school districts as code. School districts publish student demographics, and any racist clients could use that to self-select where they want to live. It was a little nauseating how easy it is to engage in redlining without creating a record or pattern. I considered reporting the guy who suggested the school districts thing, but the local association was a joke and I didn't have any proof anyway.

Anyway, I got out of that business quickly. It was a shitty, thankless job that paid very poorly compared to the effort you put in. Clients resented you, other agents were the worst people imaginable, and the organizations that were ostensibly there for support were more interested in feathering their own nests. Racist was just a shit cherry on the shit sundae.

themeatbridge ,

Knowing her character from the comics also helps fill out the narrative. I thought the leap from WandaVision to Dr Strange was a jarring heel turn, and I was hoping to get more of the conflicted and confused Wanda in VisionQuest, but now I don't want her to be in it at all.

andrew , to News
@andrew@andrew.masto.host avatar

IRS Announce Direct File will be a permanent, free tax filing option and invited all 50 states to utilize it for the 2025 filing season

https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/us-department-of-the-treasury-irs-announce-direct-file-as-permanent-free-tax-filing-option-all-50-states-and-dc-invited-to-join-in-filing-season-2025

@news

themeatbridge ,

This belies the secondary benefit of a free filing. More people will be filing for themselves, and most will not hire a professional tax service. Last year, they had a financial motive to make the process convoluted. This year, they will have a financial motive to simplify and streamline the process. It won't happen overnight, but transparency and convenience will win out over time.

themeatbridge ,

Salaried employment exists, and there are more jobs out there than they want you to think. The employer-employee relationship is a constant negotiation, and you're always free to walk away.

We don't know how much time we have on earth, and you're selling some of it in exchange for money.

They are going to keep pushing to get more of your life from you, and you need to push back to keep as much as possible.

themeatbridge ,

Right, that's the violence inherent in the system. I wasn't giving advice, I'm saying that's the only leverage you have. You're selling the minutes and hours of your life, little chunks of being alive, and you're selling it for less than it's worth. You have to, because nobody would buy it if they weren't profiting from you. It's good for them if you believe you have no choice, especially when you do.

My advice is always be applying for jobs. Or go into business for yourself, if you can manage it.

themeatbridge , (edited )

The response to this is that inflation is a market force working against the downward pressure of demand. There is a limit to the amount prices can go up before people stop buying altogether.

Another inflationary force is greed, funneling additional profits into the pockets of the 0.1%.

Let the inflation due to minimum wage be X, and the inflation due to greed be Y, and the maximum total inflation be Z. X+Y=Z

Of course there are other variables, but in a general sense, if X goes up, Y must go down. If X does not go up, Y does.

So yes there will be inflation, but increasing wages takes more money from the ownership and puts it into the pockets of the bottom 99.9% where it will do far more good.

And in case it wasn't clear, this is precisely why the oligarchy opposes increasing the minimum wage. It has nothing to do with inflation, and everything to do with they make less money.

themeatbridge ,

Shrinking cups is actually a good thing. Nobody needs that much sugar, and the cost of the syrup is pennies compared to the cost of the cup itself. They are also mostly plastic now. Normalizing smaller beverages is good for humans.

themeatbridge ,

And maybe it's both

themeatbridge ,

Does every thread have to include a reminder of how old I am? I remember living life $5 at a time.

themeatbridge ,

You're confusing a rising tide with a water hose. We absolutely know that increasing wages is good for the economy, but that helps everyone. Oligarchs benefit financially from poverty, even if the economy suffers. As you said, they want suffering, because it allows them to exploit people. Capitalism is the idea that one with means can leverage their position to capture disproportionate value from effort of others. Don't confuse capitalism with the economy. Capitalists always make money, and they don't necessarily make more money when the economy is thriving.

themeatbridge ,

They will charge what people are willing to pay, and not a dollar more. That number changes based on a wide variety of factors, but you're right that there is a baseline necessity to eat. The thing is, food and shelter are the last lines, and we're already seeing the strain on those.

People aren't going to the movies, they're not buying cars, they're not going on vacations, and small businesses everywhere are suffering. So now, finally, the grocers and restaurants are coming under fire because they have hit the upper limit of what people will accept.

Watch as they all "find ways" to cut costs and improve their value proposition. They will try to convince you that they are in this with us, but there will be a trade off. Buy in bulk, offering the same prices that you used to get buying normal quantities. Join our discount club, with recurring fees and personalized advertising using your spending habits. Get the store brand, which is expected to be of lower quality so you can't complain when your breakfast cereal is mostly pulped cellulose.

themeatbridge ,

Poor people go to jail. Rich felons only go to jail when their victims are richer.

themeatbridge ,

It's worse than that. Most people dream of the financial freedom to pursue their interests. Making as much money as possible is the common theme, but it is a means to an end. People dream of vacation homes and sports cars and parties and material things, for sure, but those material things are tied to interests. People want to relax, and have fun, and engage in hobbies, and have loved ones. The insidious lie is that we must all earn the right to have those things.

themeatbridge ,

Well, and I would say even basic necessities have become so far out of reach that they replace the dreams. People long for not being victims of scams and predators, a place to exist without cost, food, and safety.

themeatbridge ,

I think the most surprising news here is that Madonna is still doing concerts. What are the chances this is all a publicity stunt?

themeatbridge ,

I am amazed by each of them. Are you trying to say I'm being sexist?

themeatbridge ,

These motherfuckers forget that asking politely is the compromise that benefits them the most. When it doesn't work, people look for other ways to depose with tyrants.

themeatbridge ,

I think that includes the voters who won't vote for him regardless. Like me. Whatever the jury finds, I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump.

themeatbridge ,

No, Trump supporters are all voting for Trump because they want Trump.

themeatbridge ,

I have kids. I love my kids, and being a parent is the best decision I ever made for myself.

I can't say I would recommend it, though.

themeatbridge ,

The only people confusing the issue want to make it an issue.

This is key.

There are people who are anti-Semitic, and there are people who are islamophobic, and those people all view the opposition as sub-human. They will don't want peace because they want to win.

And then there are the people who benefit from the conflict, and will stoke the fires on both sides. They don't care who wins, who dies, who suffers, because while there is violence and death, they can benefit themselves.

Any progressive engaged in a discussion needs to recognize whether they are talking to a zealot or a profiteer. The former might be reasoned with. Supporters of Israel or Hamas might be shown the error in their thought process.

themeatbridge ,

Right, but China has cheaper labor and few environmental regulations. Citizens of Oregon are less likely to send children and political prisoners into mines and factories.

themeatbridge ,

Are you asking me what I would do given the keys to the nuclear arsenal? Or are you asking me what the current state of geopolitical affairs?

We won't win an economic trade war with China. China isn't the Soviet Union. We might win an actual war, but it would be the largest war ever fought on earth. China isn't Russia.

I don't want anyone mining lithium unless we can do it without destroying the planet where we live. I'd gladly trade my cell phone for universal human rights and clean water for my grandkids. But that ain't a button on my console.

Oregon is in the United States, a country where people expect life, liberty, and the pursuit of a jetski. The CCP treats its citizens like wheat for the thresher, and has zero qualms about turning some land into wasteland. Economically, you can't compete with that. If you want to place tariffs on Chinese lithium, let's do it. But we need to actually produce it here, and we have to be OK with the full, long-term cost of mining and manufacturing it, safely and cleanly.

Unless we do that, there's not much sense in acting like we're better than China. We just have a national NIMBY attitude, happily outsourcing our climate disasters and human rights abuses so we don't have to see it first hand.

themeatbridge ,

Sorry, but what are you encouraging then? Like, what's the ask?

themeatbridge ,

I just noticed the username, and I've argued with this guy before. You're spot on, he does not have a sincere argument.

themeatbridge ,

Ok, but that's an aspiration, not an action plan. What are you asking people to do? Who should they vote for? Where should they make political donations? Imagine you have convinced someone you're right. What's their next step?

themeatbridge ,

Did anyone expect anything different? Motherfucker is the one flying the flag of insurrection. Why would he voluntarily abandon the power he has?

themeatbridge ,

Skittle Vomit

Edit: This feels meaner than I intended. I actually like the look.

themeatbridge ,

Scooby Doo created a false sense of skepticism in all of us. Most of the time, the monster is the creep who acts guilty and has an obvious motive.

themeatbridge ,

She's been around for more than a year, but Jenny Nicholson has recently become a hot topic of discussion. Her 4 hour deconstruction of the Star Wars Hotel is being compared to mainstream films, because why would you pay $60 to go see Furiosa in a theater when you could instead watch a nerd talk about Disney fandom for free on your phone.

If you haven't watched her videos before, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to spend several hours with her.

themeatbridge ,

I'm from the Philadelphia suburbs, and I've heard of him because I have been following the race. But I have talked with several people who commented about his name being weird, and it's why they didn't vote for him. There were lot's of jokes about the Superman character, either from comic book readers or Seinfeld fans.

themeatbridge ,

And that's also where most people live.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/pennsylvania/counties

Erie county is home to 270,000 people. Add the surrounding counties, and you get close to 400,000.

Pennsylvania county is 1,500,000 and there's another 2.4 million in the surrounding suburbs. Mr. Bizzaro would have done well to introduce himself to the opposite corner, because everybody here lumped him in with Vermin Supreme.

Not that I'm complaining.

themeatbridge ,

I was in a ska band in high school, and we played this song at the school twice. After the first time, the school administration requested we censor a few lines, notably "I'll even cut my lyrics off for you."

themeatbridge ,

Close, but sadly no. The fedora was green, and the shoes were black converse with white-out checkers.

The administration was actually fairly reasonable about it. It was being broadcast on the school's TV station, and they had fcc concerns so they cut the end our performance of that one song. For future performances they asked for playlists in advance. We thought they would object to the song because it is about lesbians, but it was just the line about cutting off your penis that they felt was about self-harm. So we changed it to "lyrics" for the next show. They didn't cut the broadcast for How's My Driving, Doug Hastings, or Stuff, but asked us not to play either one again. I think we snuck Doug Hastings in as an encore once, but didn't face any repercussions.

Honestly, it was a long time ago so I might have the details wrong.

themeatbridge ,

Biden is not on your side. He's not on the evil side, so we should support him, but the enemy of your enemy is only your friend in battle.

Also being LGBTQ+ doesn't make her reasonable or rational.

Any ambitious lawyer works on pro-bono cases for exposure and experience. I have no doubt she sincerely supports asylum seekers and refugee organizations, as she could have volunteered her services anywhere. Being on the right side of one issue doesn't make her right about other issues.

We don't have to guess where Ana Reyes stands, because she put her thoughts into words, her words into judgement, and we can see her judgement is fundamentally skewed away from justice.

themeatbridge ,

Right, but none of those are metaphorical punishments. They're just literal things that seem funny. And it's a folk song, so the variations and intended meanings are as ephemeral as a game of telephone. Having one line about sleeping with the captain's daughter might have been even more amusing (and thus more catchy) because of the double meaning.

I'm not saying that it's not possible that your interpretation is correct, but I would imagine that your average deck hand singing sea shanties isn't thinking metaphorically when he's singing about getting drunk and laid. And insisting that the one line in the song isn't about fucking is feels like wishful thinking rather than a devotion to historical accuracy.

themeatbridge ,

Same. I do miss the community and the sheer volume and diversity of users, but I miss what it used to be, not what it has become.

themeatbridge ,

Chlorine maybe? Or maybe it's a saltwater pool. It may also be heated, and the bottled water is cold.

themeatbridge ,

News media? Yeah of course, that's why we get our news from memes.

themeatbridge ,

That's just bad craftsmanship. The company you hired was bad at their job. There are many problems with permitting and inspections, and the current state of the solar market is a mess. However, I wouldn't necessarily blame permitting and inspections processes, or the current state of the market for the problems you experienced. It's more like, in the chaos of what is going on, shitty companies are able to keep finding work despite being bad at what they do.

IF the government hired competent contractors, it wouldn't cost nearly as much as it does. Unfortunately, the government is run by corrupt individuals who steer money to their colleagues for their own personal benefit.

I know it seems like I'm nitpicking, but it's a critical distinction. From your original comment, where you begin by saying local permitting is a nightmare, one might conclude that fewer regulations would grease the wheels of commerce and allow free markets to install solar panels faster and cheaper. In fact, what we need is tighter regulation, more transparency in the processes, and central citizen oversight into the processes.

themeatbridge ,

The rails need to be nationalized. Amtrak is no better suited to manage passenger rail transport than the freight rail companies.

themeatbridge ,

If you were to feed your cat a tiny fraction of the food it needs, that's neglect.

themeatbridge ,

And in true Michael Scott fashion, below the veneer of inappropriate immaturity, there is nascent wisdom.

themeatbridge ,

I'm not sure you understand what a non-newtonian fluid is. A toothpick would float on jello, but if you stick it down into the jello, its buoyancy doesn't factor in. Quicksand compresses and becomes solid under force, and if you try to walk out, you're more likely to pull yourself deeper. The force of you floating is weaker than the force of compressed quicksand keeping you down.

And I didn't say that anyone drowns, I said it gets hard to breathe if you manage to sink up to your chest. You're right about the dehydration and fatigue, but it is due to panic. If you can float, then you could just lie on your back and roll your way to the edge. But once you're in deep, it would take a tow truck to drag your legs out against the force of the gelled quicksand.

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