#internet access connection

[inkskinned]

these days when you close your eyes, what else do you want but to be loved in a warm and permanent way. the open soft hand, the lowered voice, the blanket around your shoulders. you want to be loved like hot chocolate, like spring flowers, like dawn. you want to go to sleep protected and wake up fully rested. you want the wounds in you to matter, you want someone who is patient around your scars.

how greedy. these days when you look around, how many little ways are you assaulted by the notion that it's wrong to need others. individualism! capitalism! bootstraps! every time you try to language it, you need to cover up your desire into a carefully-worded soundbite: of course no single person can fulfill every need and we must invest in communities and i must be responsible for my own mental health and

but the yawning in you doesn't understand logic or sound or reason. it only sees sundays, only sees what you do-not-have, only sees the look others share and that you so desire. sick with dread at it, sick at how it makes you want, how you yearn in no direction.

no matter how many people you take with you to bed, no matter how many hands touch the tattoo you share with your sibling, no matter how many times you kneel with your knees bleeding. always, the ache that never stops chewing, the desperate sick loneliness that never quite abates. it never stops humming, i need i need i need. you burn your inner child for warmth and scatter the ashes into your morning coffee.

so you shut up and you load your life like shotgun shells and you try to make yourself whole in the way that others are whole. you let your father's words spill out of your mouth. you make a quick joke rather than tear your heart open. you sing into the mic and go home with stars in your eyes. your life is beautiful and you're lucky! you have everything a person can need!

but it would be nice, is the thing. to have a love that feels like peace.

[darkbluetennessee]

I suddenly have the urge to know how all of you became swifties....what was the first taylor song you ever heard, but also how did you become invested? why did you dig deeper than a casual fan would?

[valtsv]

guess who just found out his laptop isn't broken and it was actually just his roommate installing a shitty wifi extender (which he didn't even offer to let anyone else use) that cuts off my access to the internet by redirecting it all to the opposite end of the house 😐🚬

[destielmemenews]

"Dozens of people joined Biden administration officials, advocates and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, at a Washington public library on Tuesday to make a last-ditch plea to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, a subsidy created by Congress and touted by President Joe Biden as part of his push to bring internet access to every U.S. household. The program, which is set to expire at the end of May, helps people with limited means pay their broadband bills.

“They need access to high-speed internet just like they need access to electricity,” Sen. Welch told the gathering. “This is what is required in a modern economy.”"

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[jacob-blogs]

It's been nearly 8 years since america decided to fuck up the internet by destroying net neutrality, and the consequences are present as ever.

[notyourtoday]

By @arianajasmine on Instagram.

Link to post.

[crustaceousfaggot]

On one hand my phone is my bestest friend who protects me and shows me so many beautiful wonders. On the other hand I wanna throw this fucking lump of metal into the sun before it can erode my brain any more than it already has. Do you understand.

[arson-jellyfish69]

I love the internet, there is a neigh endless amount of tutorials and references from which I can learn art, from the fundamentals to more complex things like perspective, anatomy and the like

But I fucking hate the internet because All these fucking companies are just using ai to make shitty slop and people eat it up instead of making use of the vast resources it provides, seriously every day I log on here I lose more and more of my faith in humanity

[alexcabotgf]

not to be true crime posting on main but i think i'm falling down the wm3 rabbit hole again

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In 2024, reliable access to high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it is a basic necessity. From job applications to managing personal finances and completing school work, internet access is an essential part of daily life. Without an internet connection, individuals are effectively cut off from basic societal activities. 

But the reality is that many people — particularly those living around the poverty line — can not afford internet access. Without internet access, the difficult task of working your way from the American economy's bottom rung becomes virtually impossible.   On November 21, 2021, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The new law included the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provided up to $30 per month to individuals or families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty line to help pay for high-speed internet. (For a family of four, the poverty line is currently $31,200.) On Tribal lands, where internet access is generally more expensive, the ACP offers subsidies up to $75 per month.  The concept started during the Trump administration. The last budget enacted by Trump included $3.2 billion to help families afford internet access. The FCC made the money available as a subsidy to low-income individuals and families through a program known as the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The legislation signed by Biden extended and formalized the program.  It has been a smashing success.

Today, the ACP is "helping 23 million households – 1 in 6 households across America." The program has particularly benefited "rural communities, veterans, and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities." According to an FCC survey, two-thirds of beneficiaries "reported they had inconsistent internet service or no internet service at all prior to ACP." These households report using their high-speed internet to "schedule or attend healthcare appointments (72%), apply for jobs or complete work (48%), do schoolwork (75% for ACP subscribers 18-24 years old)." Tomorrow, the program will abruptly end.  In October 2023, the White House sent a supplemental budget request to Congress, which included $6 billion to extend the program through the end of 2024. There is also a bipartisan bill, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would extend the program with $7 billion in funding. The benefits of the program have shown to be far greater than the costs. An academic study published in February 2024 found that "for every dollar spent on the ACP, the nation���s GDP increases by $3.89." The program will lapse tomorrow because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring either the bill (or the supplemental funding request) to a vote. The Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act has 225 co-sponsors which means that, if Johnson held a vote, it would pass. 

[...]

The Republican attack on affordable internet

Why will Johnson not even allow a vote to extend the ACP? He is not commenting. But there are hints in the federal budget produced by the Republican Study Committee (RSC). The RSC is the "conservative caucus" of the House GOP, and counts 179 of the 217 Republicans in the House as members. Johnson served as the chair of the RSC in 2019 and 2020. He is currently a member of the group's executive committee.  The RSC's latest budget says it "stands against" the ACP and labels it a "government handout[] that disincentivize[s] prosperity." The RSC claims the program is unnecessary because "80 percent" of beneficiaries had internet access before the program went into effect. For that statistic, the RSC cites a report from a right-wing think tank, the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), which opposes the ACP. EPIC, in turn, cites an FCC survey to support its contention that 80% of ACP beneficiaries already had internet access. The survey actually found that "over two-thirds of survey respondents (68%) reported they had inconsistent internet service or no internet service at all prior to ACP."

[...] The RSC also falsely claims that funding for the precursor to the ACP, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB), "was signed into law at the end of President Biden’s first year in office." This is false. Former President Trump signed the funding into law in December 2020. The RSC's position is not popular. A December 2023 poll found that 79% of voters support "continuing the ACP, including 62% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 96% of Democrats."

In 2024, access to the internet is a necessity and not just a luxury, and the Republicans are set to end the Affordable Connectivity Program if no action is taken. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provided subsidies to low-income people and families to obtain internet access.

[neurotypical-sonic]

I dont think most of the islands would have internet connection, or at least not widely available or easily accessible. 4 year old tails not knowing much about the internet or caring about it until he and sonic end up on the mainlands and in a public library and he discovers the Joy of Internet. whole new world has opened up baby and he is tapping away at that keyboard

[advisortotheadvisor]

while I broadly agree with the sentiment of posts that are like "X character wouldn't identify as that specific microlabel" in the sense of "not every character would be that acquainted with queer terminology nor would they be willing to do that level of introspection into their identity, and that's fine because queerness exists beyond man-made labels" I don't like how the posts themselves (or the people who reblog them) use them as a sounding board to make fun of whatever identities they find cringy. Like Jonathan Sims is a millennial living in the mid-2010s. The chances of him knowing what asexuality is and openly identifying as such is extremely high, you're just aphobic

[magicalblerdpenn]

Hey y'all. If you're based in the United States, please call your Congressional reps and ask them to approve this bill funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. It helps low income households like mine get a discount on their internet bill. As a freelance writer who works from home while being a family caregiver, this has helped me save money. Without this funding, the Affordable Connectivity Program will end in April.

[si-cucumber]

I really wish I wasn't living in the middle of a natural disaster site right now :D

[ivygorgon]

AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. CONGRESS

Fund the Affordable Connectivity Program NOW!

130 so far! Help us get to 250 signers!

I’m a concerned constituent writing to urge you to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program or ACP. Digital connectivity is a basic necessity in our modern world and the internet must be treated as a public utility. We use the internet to apply for jobs, perform our jobs, receive telehealth medical treatment, and pay bills, and students use it to complete homework assignments. But for millions of people in rural and urban areas, and Tribal communities, the internet is a luxury they cannot afford. Failure by Congress to fund this program will force millions of households already on tight budgets to choose between being able to stay online or potentially losing access to this essential service. If Congress doesn’t act fast, funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will run out and more than 22 million Americans -- 1 in 6 households -- will lose this vital service. The implications of this will be devastating. In 2019, 18% of Native people living on Tribal land had no internet access; 33% relied on cell phone service for the internet; and 39% had spotty or no connection to the internet at home on their smart phone. The ACP has enrolled 320,000 households on Tribal lands -- important progress. The largest percentage gains in broadband access are in rural areas. Nearly half of military families are enrolled in ACP, as are one in four African American and Latino households. Losing access and training on using computers and the internet will have devastating impacts on all these communities as technology becomes increasingly integral to work, education, health, and our everyday lives. Without moves to address tech inequality, low-income communities and communities of color are heading towards an “unemployment abyss.” The Affordable Connectivity Program has broad bipartisan support because it is working. As your constituent, I am urging you to push for renewed funding for the ACP before it runs out in the coming weeks.

▶ Created on April 11 by Jess Craven

📱 Text SIGN PJXULY to 50409

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[unhonestlymirror]

I've recently realised that 99% of social media regular users are seriously unhappy with their lives, and that's why they spend their time here. Which makes them a very niche slice of society by which judging a certain community or a country even will be a huge mistake. Taking Poland as an example, every single Pole I've met irl were super nice and caring people, and I really enjoyed interacting with them - but when you come to the Internet TM (I'm not considering my online Polish besties ofc) and you watch people's behaviour here, it leaves you a bitter taste in the mouth, and you start developing prejudice against this country, completely unconsciously! Same with Ukrainians (although we have the war, so it can be an excuse... TT).

Lithuanians, on the other hand, don't like surfing online at all. Even the youth is most likely to read LRT on Facebook daily and nothing more, they'd rather prefer spending time outside, doing sports, reading, hanging out, studying, go to clubs of interest and stuff. They don't find it necessary to invest into social media that much, and they don't care what other people say about the "necessity of being popular online". When I was younger, I thought it was backward, now I realise I was an idiot and Lithuania is the happiest country and the Winner In Life for reasons.