Beehaw

This article is about Germany rapidly increasing defence spending, and also the fact that they're considering conscription. I also found this interesting:

A recent YouGov poll showed that 79% of Germans still see Vladimir Putin as "very" or "quite" dangerous to European peace and security. Now 74% said the same for Donald Trump.

Thoughts?

Transcript

!fediverse@piefed.social

• LW has a 3 days delay with aussie.zone https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/40460535
• lemmy.ml is known for arbitrary instance bans: https://feddit.nl/post/16246531
• !fediverse@lemmy.zip has a single mod, and not willing to create meta posts to call for more
• other fediverse communities are inactive

One thing to note is that this community being on Piefed allows us to use some unique Piefed features, such as only subscribers to the community being able to downvote.

The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and three other people were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a Black Mass in the rotunda.

About 30 members of the Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, led by its president, Michael Stewart, rallied outside the Statehouse for the separation of church and state. The group also protested what members called the state’s favoritism toward Christians in allowing events inside. Gov. Laura Kelly temporarily banned protests inside, just for Friday, weeks after Stewart’s group scheduled its indoor ceremony.

The Satanic Grotto’s rally outside drew hundreds of Christian counterprotesters because of the Grotto’s satanic imagery, and its indoor ceremony included denouncing Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. About 100 Christians stood against yellow police tape marking the Satanic Grotto’s area. The two groups yelled at each other while the Christians also sang and called on Grotto members to accept Jesus. Several hundred more Christians rallied on the other side of the Grotto’s area, but further away.

Kelly issued her order earlier this month after Roman Catholic groups pushed her to ban any Satanic Grotto event. The state’s Catholic Bishops called what the group planned “a despicable act of anti-Catholic bigotry” mocking the Catholic Mass. Both chambers of the Legislature also approved resolutions condemning it.

...

Satanic Grotto members, who number several dozen, said they hold a variety of beliefs. Some are atheists, some use the group to protest harm they suffered as church members, and others see Satan as a symbol of independence.

...

Video shot by KSNT-TV showed that when Stewart tried to conduct his group’s ceremony in the first-floor rotunda, a young man tried to snatch Stewart’s script from his hands, and Stewart punched him. Several Kansas Highway Patrol troopers wrestled Stewart to the ground and handcuffed him. They led him through hallways on the ground floor below and into a room as he yelled, “Hail, Satan!”

At the time I'm writing this, one of the top posts on r/Conservative is about Trump teasing a run for an unconstitutional third term. Every comment in that post I've read has completely blasted President Trump for being so brazen.

While us here at 50501 and the folks at r/Conservative disagree on much, we gotta give credit where credit is due. Thank you conservatives for sticking to constitutional principles!! I hope we can work together on other issues to prevent executive overreach. 🇺🇸

Here is the current top comment with 4,000 upvotes ⬆️:

No thank you, the 22nd Amendment exists for a reason. You're done after two, no matter what you accomplish or who you are. We have plenty of leaders who can step into the role in 2028.

Originally Posted By u/Beginning_Bee9935 At 2025-03-31 12:14:04 AM | Source

A number of folks on 50501 and elsewhere have asked if it is safe to go out and protest. This is understandable. We live in scary times!

We all know that America’s twin wannabe kings, Trump and Musk, are employing intimidation as a weapon right now: Trump posted a nonsensical rant on twitter about protests and boycotts being “illegal.” He sent ICE to deport Mahmoud Khalil and other green-card/visa holders because of their history protesting for Palestine; a French scientist was denied entry to the U.S.; over two hundred people have been sold to an inhumane El Salvadoran prison; Germany has issued travel advisories for the U.S., etc.

You all know that I could go on!

But this is the time to fight. Things are not really getting any better!

You will never be safer than you are right now.

You will never be stronger than you are right now.

If we don't protest, trike, and boycott now, we will become further entrenched in authoritarianism.

Authoritarian governments are extremely dangerous for their citizens. Trump and Musk are trying to transform our liberal democracy into an authoritarian regime: this attempt presents us with wild uncertainty. On a scale of Hungary to Venezuela, Russia to 1930s Germany, how bad will it get?

We don’t know! Did anyone expect Trump to deport random people to El Salvador -- a country that they’re not even from?

But we do know that authoritarian governments disappear people for no reason. They jail people without trials. They destroy social safety nets. They punish any dissenters. Authoritarian governments often start wars, commit genocide, and may kill people en masse.

This is the safest you will ever be. This is the strongest you will ever be. That’s why our first response should be to fight. Always fight back first, as hard as you can, for as long as you can.

Remember Historian Timothy Snyder's first tenet for fighting back against authoritarians:

"Do not obey in advance.

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."

A weapon is bluff before it’s a tool. Call their bluffs; seize their tools.

Protest. Disrupt. Boycott. Strike.

(On a more personal note: I have attended protests every week for the last two months. Big protests of 5K+ in major cities. Small protests of 50-200 people in suburban towns. So far these have been objectively very tame protests. They have all been peaceful, friendly protests full of folks mostly 55+ carrying homemade signs. People have been passing out cookies! Very chill.)

Originally Posted By u/kccm06 At 2025-03-30 10:52:10 PM | Source

Apple wil de iPad Pro en MacBook Pro eind dit jaar met een M5-chip uitrusten. Dat schrijft Bloomberg-journalist Mark Gurman. Het Amerikaanse bedrijf werkt ook aan de M6-chip, die een eigen modem zal bevatten. De herwerkte Gezondheid-app zou ook een AI-agent krijgen.

Google heeft de experimentele versie van Gemini 2.5 Pro beschikbaar gemaakt voor gratis gebruikers. Deze gebruikers moeten wel rekening houden met gebruikslimieten. Het taalmodel was voordien enkel voor Gemini Advanced-abonnees beschikbaar.

Capcom heeft in ongeveer een maand tijd wereldwijd tien miljoen exemplaren van Monster Hunter Wilds verkocht. Begin maart werd bekend dat het spel acht miljoen keer over de toonbank was gegaan.

Public servant Peter Dutton has announced an exception to his new rules demanding all public servants work from offices in Canberra, the exception of course being himself.

Context: ABC News: Albanese says PM should live in Canberra as Dutton opts for Kirribilli [in Sydney]

See also: The Betoota Advocate: Dutton tells voters he will show strong leadership in Canberra by working from home in Sydney