Post · bonfire.cafe

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 3 hours ago

Today's @pluralistic essay hits a little close to home https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/06/champerty-loves-company/

"Conservative strongmen like Trump and Musk exalt the value of self-determination – for themselves, at everyone else's expense. Trump's ability to stiff the contractors that built his hotels and Musk's ability to rain flaming rocket debris down on the people who live near his company town require that everyone else be stripped of protections."

Rain cold private astronaut debris down on Canadian farmland. That too.

https://pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: In praise of vultures (06 May 2026)

Roy -- the dull one

@oldclumsy_nowmad@mastodon.social · 60 minutes ago

@sundogplanets @pluralistic

Thanks for calling our attention to the Pluralistic essay, Prof. Lawler. It's outstanding! I'm so glad to see more and more recognition of the role that unfettered "free market" misbehavior plays in so many of our crises today.

Ray McCarthy

@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie · 2 hours ago

@sundogplanets @pluralistic
FCC should only authorise radio spectrum use in or over the USA.

The rest of world should sue the FCC. They would soon stop exceeding their remit. Or maybe not as the USA ignores international laws.

The ITU decides spectrum use and the FCC only supposed to license than in the USA.

ITU now under UN, but created in 19th C.

guenther

@guenther@chaos.social · 2 hours ago

@sundogplanets

Everybody please read that post again and appreciate the pun if you haven't already.

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 3 hours ago

Context, because although it sure feels like I've told everyone in the world about this, it doesn't seem to have reached American news media at all (at least, I've spoken to more than one American journalist recently who were totally unaware) https://web.archive.org/web/20260423000931/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacex-dropped-space-junk-on-my-neighbors-farm-heres-what-happened-next/

Scientific American

When Space Junk Fell on My Neighbor’s Farm, the Law Had Few Answers for Us

A Saskatchewan farmer’s near miss with potentially lethal debris falling from orbit highlights the skyrocketing risks and murky politics of space junk

Cat West

@Catawu@mastodon.social · 2 hours ago

@sundogplanets Legacy Media (all of it) is owned by 5 mega corporations. All other media tends to get their feed from legacy media. They sure don’t want your message out there, explaining the down side of joy riding in the low orbits and the reckless disregard of one of their own.

Sean Kleefeld

@SKleefeld@retro.pizza · 3 hours ago

@sundogplanets Well, to be fair -- and I'm saying this as an American -- Americans are self-centered idiots.