@NarrativeBear @BradleyUffner most shopping districts outside the US incorporate housing or offices above the shops as standard. They absolutely are communities - and residents' footfall sustains the businesses.

@AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor @_haha_oh_wow_ ...you might already have one. I'm in the UK. We match the EU in that E-bike pedal assist is limited to 15.5mph/25kph. Here, anything higher speed than that or that doesn't need pedalling is legally a moped or motorbike (depending on power) and has to follow those laws - helmet, licence, tax, number plate, on-road only. I assume Italy does something similar?

@als @mannycalavera honestly it's mostly not overpriced. That's a perception. It just sells more of the expensive brands, but brand for brand and value ranges compared, it's barely different from the others. Sainsbury's would be a better pick if they want a) overpriced and b) money funnelled directly to outside shareholders.

@fakeman_pretendname @Corporal_Punishment the post-Farage UKIP seems to have gone the way of the BNP, while Reform is pretending to perform respectability politics (although isn't that far off the old BNP either). I almost miss Nick Griffin. At least fewer people swallowed his bullshit.

@RedstoneValley @Buffalox Marie Le Conte left X and joined Bluesky ages ago. She's mostly trying to make the point to some of her fellow journalists who are ridiculously clay-footed and don't seem to have realised that they haven't "made themselves a nice little corner of X", they're just swimming in fascist waters now.

@Eril @noumenon isn't Wero aiming to be the PayPal replacement? I think they're basically combining various national platforms to make something that works Euro(pe?)-wide.
I say this jealously from the UK where we're doing precisely zip, AFAIK.

@theuniqueone @okwithmydecay I don't. The unspoken bit is always race. "I'm anti [brown] immigration and I'm worried about [white] population decline" are not incompatible.

@als @moderatecentrist he's always campaigned using plausible deniability though. It's just *those* people. You know, the people we don't like. Not people who are already here. *Good* immigrants who we *approve* of are ok.
This kind of disproves that and removes the figleaf for (some) people.
Personally I'd go with the fact it's just straight up horrendous bullying. That's a harder sell for someone who says he's just fighting to protect all us poor weak victims who already live here.

@Jimbel @JensSpahnpasta I wrote to my MP the other day asking why her leader (Ed Davey) condones X by being on it. Going to try needling a bit more directly I think.

@Kalon @silence7 "too big to fail" -> banking crisis. "too big to moderate" -> culture crisis.

@jimmy90 @Await8987 even when he goes, he's destroyed the US's soft power (and created long-term hatred towards the US in places where USAID was suddenly closed), tanked the economy and damaged trade links. The US will either be an insular yet aggressive dictatorship or focused on healing its wounds for years to come. Meanwhile empowered US fascists are funding fascists abroad, who will adopt nationalist policies of their own if they get in. The world is a very changed place.

@okwithmydecay NB you can also often join libraries in neighbouring counties too. Useful if you like ebooks and audiobooks as it expands the catalogue you can access if you have more than one library card. They often also give you free access to online newspapers and magazines, and sometimes streaming platforms too.
But please also go in! Ours does free coffee, has desks and free WiFi, and you can use their scanner and pay to use their printer if you don't have your own.