Context:
US Americans are supposed to file taxes by mid April (idk the date bc I never do it in April), but you can file an extension if you need more time, pushing the deadline to October 15th.

Fascism Tip:
While you can be arrested for failure to file or for lying on your taxes, you won't be arrested for filing honestly and then simply not paying. The IRS may eventually levy your assets, bank account, and/or wages, but it often takes many years and/or a large debt for them to actually pursue it. This is not tax advice.

I break Rules 2 and 6 constantly

Rule 2: No Trolling

Rule 6: Be civil in comments. This includes instance shaming.

I do this to rage bait .world libs because it's hilarious, but then they get banned for Rules 3, 4, and 6 before I can really get into pissing them off.

Rule 3: No liberalism

Rule 4: Lessor evil rhetoric. Dismissing 3rd party votes.

Addressing this upfront because it makes no sense: I am not opposed to banning trolls. I am opposed to banning trolls before I have finished trolling them. These are two entirely different positions, and conflating them is a fundamental misunderstanding of my argument.

Grasping at straws, my only guesses are:

• (Charitably) The moderators don't understand that trolling is a process, and that banning someone before I've finished is effectively depriving me of the opportunity to complete that process.

• (Less-than-charitably) They understand perfectly well what they're doing and simply don't care about my personal entertainment.

The act alone of banning someone I was enjoying arguing with- without any consideration for my personal entertainment- is enough to warrant this post.

I believe that the woke right should only be banned after I'm done having fun with them, or I should be banned with them to spare me from this recurring annoyance.

What I'd like most, though, is to bring this abuse out in the open, because this is clearly the norm for this website.

I compiled this post because I had a sneaking suspicion the moderators would continue banning people I wanted to argue with, and wanted a means to defend myself from a one-sided narrative in which I am apparently expected to stop trolling people when they get banned (they usually don't respond to my DMs when I try to keep the thread going)

The post:

As you can see, rule 2 isn't even applicable:

@L3s@lemmy.world (bastard) is retaliating against me for calling them out in another thread over their use of the n word

I demand my post not only be restored, but stickied for a week as restitution

As you can see in the screenshot below, I actually upclicked the content in question

I think this whole news community exists purely for the purpose of abuse, and I should've known- it's in the name! A community where you're not allowed to apologize?? Ridiculous.

update

Mr. Down has been sacked

cross-posted from: https://piefed.diffrint.org/post/338752

I work in community mental health and some of the people we see are survivors or actively in domestic violence situations. I keep hearing reports in the media about Flock cameras being abused by perpetrators to stalk/find people. Do we know of any guidance or resources have been discussed to help promote victim/survivor safety?

Or, has anyone been able to troubleshoot some options?

Originally posted by u/wyrd_vibes on Reddit.

Top comment by u/dadjo_kes

I feel like the best option I've seen is the battery-powered reciprocating saw. They need to come down.

Edit: Oh wait she responded

They said I can't do handstands because of "liability," but I'm better at walking on my hands than some of the members are at walking on their feet.

Like, they don't kick out people with Parkinson's or people doing physical rehab or paraplegics for liability, but they'll kick me out for doing handstands? Blatant discrimination.

Gymnasts ought to be a protected class, I've had enough. "You can't do a handstand on that statue;" "No walking on your hands through the fountain;" "No climbing the monument"- it's fucking bullshit.

Basically it comes down to this- if you'll let disabled people be there, you should have to let me climb stuff. We need an AAA to complement the ADA- the Americans with Abilities Act.

Be part of the change and sign the petition today!

https://www.change.org/p/make-planet-fitness-let-me-climb-on-the-equipment

#stopgymscrimidation

Edit: Somebody reported my petition and got it taken down this discrimination is too pervasive I will be taking this directly to the mayor

My best friend, who I'll call Derek, had been spending an unhealthy amount of time with his fiance (Evan). Every time I tried to tell him I was worried, he acted like I was jealous instead of listening to someone who has known him far longer than his fiance has. He ignored my feelings and even scoffed when I said this was unfair to me.

I eventually got him to come boxing with me after he kept cancelling (I had to pull the "I don't feel safe being alone right now" card 🙄). He came away with some bruises, which I didn't intend, but I honestly thought it might help people see what I’d been seeing- that he wasn’t safe- so I took advantage of the opportunity.

I reported his fiance because he was obviously being emotionally abusive, preventing Derek from hanging out with me. I may have emphasized certain things, but only because nobody takes emotional abuse seriously unless there’s evidence they can actually see.

When nothing happened, I called for help from Derek's phone, pretending to be him. I know that sounds bad, but I was scared he’d minimize it or protect Evan, like victims do.

Now Evan is in jail, and Derek is drinking again and crying all the time and saying he feels crazy (he doesn't know I reported Evan). This isn't what I wanted. I don't want to take care of him. I want to play Halo.

I keep wondering whether I made things worse. But what was I supposed to do- just watch him throw his life away and then pretend I didn’t notice? I'm not even Catholic so I don't understand why I'm feeling this way.

Edit: Solved!

Edit 2: uh oh, I asked my mom and she said I went to a catholic preschool... This might go deeper than I thought.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/46082903

In fairness, the argument that AI is a cult/false religion/false god has been made many times before, however I believe that AI and the AI community most closely aligns with a cult, and here’s why:

Indoctrination techniques:

Generally, techniques that indoctrinate users into the cult tend to follow similar trends, which are notable in many of the AI models having similar effects on the users who subsequently become frequent users of the technology. Broken down, I’d say it’s something like this:

-Innocuous beginnings: Cults are notorious for beginning the indoctrination process with something simple and seemingly harmless on the surface (I.e. conferences, videos, films, games, etc.) these are all real techniques that various cults have used in the past, to somewhat success. Likewise, AI chatbots, image and video generators present just this: an invitation to engage with something fun and seemingly harmless, something that engages the audience and draws their attention.

-Love bombing: Perhaps the most notorious hook of cults is love bombing — giving heaps of praise and complements to the joining members. Likewise, AI chatbots constantly tell you how good your point is or how you’re always on the right track (“you’ve hit the nail on the head”, “that is an amazing point” are but a few I have read of Gemini) This is undoubtedly a form of love bombing.

-Promise of more: Cults often work by enticing their audience with something good, but promising something great (something better) later. Likewise, AI tech companies are always promising more, more, more if you subscribe/follow their work. What better reward for AI users can there be but the promise of bigger and better AI? This is exactly how both cults and AI operate.

Beyond the indoctrination similarities, there are also many, many peripheral similarities (by which I mean subtle, not less important similarities) which include:

-reach and scope: historical cults have often managed to expand their reach across multiple countries around the world. Need I explain how this is similar to the reach and scope of AI?

-withholding/hiding information

-leaders who turn out to be crooks/criminals

-leaders who amass fortunes

And many more.

What do you think? Are the similarities superficial, or could AI actually be a worldwide cult hidden in plain sight?