@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

DavidM_yeg

@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca

Edmonton musician, studio teacher, arranger, composer.
Husband and dad of 3. Interests include city council, transportation, art, government, society; former science nerd.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

MaJ1 , to weirdfolks group
@MaJ1@mastodonapp.uk avatar

Good Omens is coming true in July Peeps 😆

@weirdfolks https://flipboard.com/@flipboarduk/news-uk-edition-mukbja9gz/-/a-T4Jq_7PAQwO2Y52I7324Uw%3Aa%3A26228122-%2F0

DavidM_yeg ,
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

@MaJ1 @weirdfolks

A little bit of tv heaven to go with roadway hell?

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I decided to find out if any progress had been made on the science behind why some ants are attracted to electrical fields. After filtering out exterminators (it's so demoralizing to search for information on creatures you love and find nothing but people who know nothing about them boasting about how they will kill them all) I found what looked like a blog. But, who the heck is "James Brown"? Never heard of the dude. Maybe he could be my new friend if he likes ants enough to blog about them!

DavidM_yeg ,
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

@alexwild @wmd @futurebird

I like your phrase “information pollution”, it provides a framework or metaphor that can be applied more broadly than this specific example.

Like with other forms of pollution we can use regulation, education, social pressure, fines, punishment for different kinds of pollution: litter vs excessive waste vs toxic emissions.

DavidM_yeg , to random
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

It is stunning to me that so many states are passing laws that constitute gross violations of very basic human rights - from denying reproductive care to banning masks- and what I’ve heard from media north of the border is …

… crickets

While I understand many people may be feeling tired/overwhelmed by American news, our conservative gangs all aspire to do the same, so we’d best be paying attention, it’s a window into our own future.

wdlindsy , to random
@wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

"Justice Samuel Alito spoke candidly about the ideological battle between the left and the right — discussing the difficulty of living 'peacefully' with ideological opponents in the face of 'fundamental' differences that 'can’t be compromised.' He endorsed what his interlocutor described as a necessary fight to 'return our country to a place of godliness.'"

~ Tessa Stuart and Tim Dickinson


/1

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/samuel-alito-supreme-court-justice-recording-tape-battle-1235036470/

DavidM_yeg ,
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

@wdlindsy @DanaBlankenhorn

It is definitely both and historically more evangelical, but the last couple decades has seen a radical catholicism to match, and they increasingly are more comfortable with each other than moderates or non-Christians.

DavidM_yeg ,
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

@DanaBlankenhorn @wdlindsy

Thanks for this… Catholicism in Canada has had a very different flavour because of its history in Quebec, but the political right has recently seen Catholics like Jason Kenney and Pierre Poilievre take leading roles.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

It’s not that expensive to have your own labels made to replace those in your clothes so you have your own secret bespoke brand.

(it’s a remarkable how much this simple detail makes me happy.)

DavidM_yeg ,
@DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

@futurebird

Are you making your own clothing or rebranding what you buy?

… love the Ants Only brand btw

ChrisMayLA6 , to bookstodon group
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

I sometimes thought my father thought he could't die while he still had books on his pending pile (a stab at immortality I seem to be replicating)... so, it was strangely touching to see Tom Gauld has had similar thoughts.

@bookstodon

Cartoon: man talking to ghost - frame one: Man, 'I thought you'd died' Ghost (reading a book), 'My life has ended but I cannot pass over to the spirit realm when so much remains undone' frame two: Man, 'you mean all these books you bought and never got round to reading?' Ghost (floating next to a full/overflowing bookshelf), 'It won't take long, there are fewer distractions when you're dead'. frame three, A few months later: Man, 'Is it me or are these piles getting bigger?' Ghost (now surrounded by books), 'My library card still works, but once I I've read these I'll start on the ones in the attic'.
ALT
  • Reply
  • Expand (60)
  • Collapse (60)
    • + Xenograg, Tim_Eagon, stuffjolikes, pluralistic +1 More
    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon

    Libraries must be the most haunted places on the planet… so much unfinished business!

    breadandcircuses , to random
    @breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

    🇺🇸 🚘 🇨🇦

    We don’t need to live with these awful car-centric cities in the USA and Canada. It’s a choice our leaders have made, to support the the oil industry.

    There are much better options.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @breadandcircuses @Paragone @psoul

    The implication that anyone critiquing car use in north america is attacking rural communities and wants to strand rural residents without services is another red herring.

    The vast majority of private car travel and transport of goods is within and between urban areas. We could leave rural transportation completely untouched and unchanged and still become world leaders.

    CelloMomOnCars , to random
    @CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

    Everyone is talking about building very large for energy storage, for when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. Turns out, that is the most expensive solution. There are faster solutions that yield money.

    "Lovins and many other experts have spent decades pointing out that an integrated system approach that focuses as much or more on consumption than supply will be so much cheaper than the current approach focused on supply."

    https://reneweconomy.com.au/worlds-biggest-grids-could-be-powered-by-renewables-with-little-or-no-storage-if-we-are-smart-enough/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @Thebratdragon @CelloMomOnCars

    Another way to look at it is that fossil fuels are both an energy source and energy storage. As we decarbonize energy sources we are separating those two functions, but “storage” can take so many forms, and load balancing even more.
    I was dismayed to encounter an article promoting “load banks” as the ideal solution to oversupply from renewables. This ‘solution’ is giant open air electric heaters that literally just waste energy.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Gonna get listed in the yellow pages as an "ant psychologist" ... I'll find out why your ants are too nervous... or aggressive... or depressed. Give me a call!

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird

    If your ant looks down,
    or your queen’s depressed,
    who ya gonna call?
    Ant Psychologist!

    If your workers are slow,
    nervous, or just stressed,
    who ya gonna call?
    Ant Psychologist!

    DavidM_yeg , to random
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    Welcome to the first smoke day of the year in #YEG, I’m sure it won’t be the last.

    This plume of smoke comes from intense wildfires in northeastern BC, and is brought to you courtesy of every regressive petrostate province that wants to burn it all down as long as there’s profit to be made.

    #FireSmoke #Alberta

    An animated map of western Canada from FireSmoke.ca A number of significant fires in northeastern BC generated a plume of smoke that detaches itself and then cruises southeastward, passing Edmonton to the east on its way to Regina

    faab64 , to israel group

    Israeli #Eurovision performance was jeered with booo and free #Palestine shouts from the public I'm #Malmö, #Sweden last night.

    They shouldn't be allowed to participate if it wasn't for disgusting double standard of the organizers and pressure from Swedish and German government.

    vm.tiktok.com/ZGeQpxxso/

    @palestine @israel

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @faab64 @palestine @israel

    Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking that the extra long, blood red fingernails are a particularly thoughtless choice for a singer representing a nation that currently has so much (literal) blood on its hands.

    DavidM_yeg , to random
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    Spring proceeds apace in

    A small patch of garden: amongst the dead stalks of perennials that haven’t sprouted yet are early spring bulbs. big flowered purple crocus in front, with bright orange pistils, and in the background a drift of white snowdrops and siberian blue squill.
    A large bumblebee on a small clump of fuzzy leaves and yellow flowers. The bee’s large abdomen is also fuzzy, bright yellow with a broad rusty stripe.

    faab64 , to random

    It can only happen to protesters against one country in the world.

    It's just unbelievable.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @faab64

    Every anti-abortion conservative in north america would read this and think you are talking about them…

    [I don’t agree, but I do know them well]

    dillyd , to random
    @dillyd@allies.social avatar

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @dillyd

    Apologies in advance for my twisted mind: but over on the right all I can see is a skeletal cedar-y hand reaching up from the grave…

    thenarwhal , to random
    @thenarwhal@mstdn.ca avatar

    Internal emails show the head of the Alberta Electric System Operator was 'not comfortable' with government’s plan to pause renewables. He was told to 'support the minister without reservation' https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-renewables-pause-grid-operator/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @thenarwhal

    So the government that used ‘ideological’ as the blanket critique to bring down the NDP is itself ignoring all their own experts and advisors as they overhaul this province based on… a pretty radical authoritarian petrostate ideology.
    Projection anyone?

    faab64 , to israel group

    Amid growing speculation that the International Criminal Court could issue arrest warrants against officials in the coming days over the war against Hamas in , a White House spokesperson reiterates opposition for the investigation.

    “The has no jurisdiction in this situation,” the spokesperson says.


    @palestine @israel

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @faab64 @palestine @israel

    The White House is saying here that Palestine is not a state and that Gaza is Israeli territory. Why?
    The ICC does have jurisdiction in ‘state parties’: USA and Israel are not state parties to the ICC, but the State of Palestine is and has been since 2015.

    #Gaza #WarCrimes #ICC

    International Criminal Court State of Palestine On a related development, the Government of the State of Palestine accepted, by means of a declaration under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, the ICC jurisdiction since 13 June 2014. Ratification and Implementation Status State of Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute on 2 January 2015. The Rome Statute will enter into force for the State of Palestine on 1 April 2015. Last Update 23 July 2019 For more information Please see the series Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General that consolidates all information on the Statute (i.e.,signatures, ratifications, accessions, miscellaneous notifications). The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, entered into force on 1 July 2002.

    Jurisdiction The Court may exercise jurisdiction in a situation where genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes were committed on or after 1 July 2002 and: • the crimes were committed by a State Party national, or in the territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court; or • the crimes were referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) pursuant to a resolution adopted under chapter VIl of the UN charter. As of 17 July 2018, a situation in which an act of aggression would appear to have occurred could be referred to the Court by the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, irrespective as to whether it involves States Parties or non-States Parties. In the absence of a UNSC referral of an act of aggression, the Prosecutor may initiate an investigation on her own initiative or upon request from a State Party. The Prosecutor shall first ascertain whether the Security Council has made a determination of an act of aggression committed by the State concerned. Where no such determination has been made within six months after the date of notification to the UNSC by the Prosecutor of the situation, the Prosecutor may nonetheless proceed with the investigation, provided that the Pre-Trial Division has authorized the commencement of the investigation...
    ALT
  • Reply
    • + faab64
    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Sometimes a "wandering trader" come up to you in Minecraft and it's very annoying since he has llamas that make noise and can get in the way. Most players just kill him.

    It would be nice if Minecraft added a "goodbye" button that would cause him to leave. Or even a "go away button"

    All the murder is both funny and it does not sit well with me.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird

    I’m not agreeing with all the pearl clutching about how ‘video games will corrupt our youth’ as some kind of inevitability but …

    I also have a hard time thinking that all the casual violence toward NPCS and the constant barrage of redemptive violence narratives in entertainment media wouldn’t have any effect on us…

    … musings as the world careens toward fascism, again.

    randahl , to random
    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar

    This is how fake it is:

    Picture 1: On social media, Conservatives are celebrating that Trump visited a bodega in Harlem, where the locals loved him and “spontaneously” chanted “four more years”.

    Picture 2: One of those Harlem “locals” were Gavin Wax.

    Picture 3: Gavin Wax is the president of… [drumroll please…]
    The New York Young Republican Club, who organized the visit.

    Picture 4: Fox News shows a successful Trump, cheered on by Harlem citizens, who in reality are actors organized to appear.

    image/jpeg
    image/jpeg
    image/jpeg

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @randahl

    A challenge / request to a New Yorker:

    Tomorrow, someone should show up at the bodega and ask the owners and customers through the day what they think of Trump, and publish that

    CelloMomOnCars , to random
    @CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

    A major US state just achieved a critical milestone for nearly two weeks: 'It's wild that this isn't getting more news coverage'

    "#California has set a benchmark for #RenewableEnergy, with wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal supplying 100% of the state's electricity demand for 25 out of the last 32 days (and counting)."

    https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/california-renewable-energy-100-percent-grid/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @CelloMomOnCars

    To all the numpties in the replies with their “well akshullly”, all the same ackshullies that are spouted whenever a milestone is reached, the article covers that too 👇

    Screenshot from article in OP, text reads: Though California does still rely on dirty energy as well as clean energy to power its grid, Jacobson predicted that the state will reach its goal of being permanently 100% WindWaterSolar by 2035. "In 2009, when we first proposed 100% [WindWaterSolar], the utilities and naysayers claimed the grid would go unstable with more than 20 per cent renewable energy, with no evidence," Jacobson wrote on X, per Renew Economy. "In 2017, they claimed, with no evidence, a limit of 80 per cent. In 2020, they claimed 90%, then 95%. Now 100% WWS is here to stay."
    ALT
  • Reply
    • + CelloMomOnCars
    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @CelloMomOnCars

    Already happened… Alberta had rolling blackouts recently bc two gas plants were doing maintenance when more gas generators went unexpectedly offline; so of course the story was ‘renewables will be a disaster!’ (we’re at less than 20% renewables 🙄)

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    One of these Lasius emarginatus works was stepped on by someone as she tried to cross the sidewalk. She is mortally wounded but not yet dead. A cluster of her sisters have gathered to see if anything can be done. After trying to rouse and move her they gave up and moved on. The sidewalks are dangerous and most ants use the cracks as little highways.

    All this silent drama is going on even as the important fast walking New Yorkers keep stomping by.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird

    I love the perspective you add to my feed…
    I’m curious about the odd line in the top left of the image (a bit of a back of the mind itch 😬), any idea what it is? I’m guessing a hair that got in front of the camera as you stooped, or a wool fibre? Seems too solid to be a thread. Or just artifact of some kind, or a tear in fabric of space-time?

    Ozmopolitan , to random
    @Ozmopolitan@mastodon.ie avatar

    I know that there's a push in media to frame trans women, fat women or women with disabilities as impossible to be pretty. They just want to make people angry for clicks.

    That said. There're plenty of gorgeous trans women, fat women and disabled women out there. As a matter of fact all women are beautiful and should be treated as the queens we are.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @Ozmopolitan

    Most ‘beauty’ is artificially constructed anyway imho, I’m much more interested in attractiveness - which is a reflection of the person (including how they live in the body they have) rather than externalities.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Sometimes I think that instead of debunking misinformation* it might be better to simply celebrate what we know and how we know it. So, rather than explain why anti-vaxers (for example) are wrong go into detail about the production process for vaccines.

    *Especially maliciously constructed misinformation, that is people who use their limited scientific knowledge to add credibility to 'theories' they know aren't well supported since they want to harm 'established science' for some reason.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird

    Yes, this 👆

    There’s a lot of projection going on: Hate, fear of the other, selfishness, oppression are catching, they are a kind of mind virus, and we won’t beat it through argument.

    We show a different path: this is what caring looks like, this is what rational decision making leads to, this is the beautiful world we see through science.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @barrygoldman1 @futurebird

    Fundamentalist christian america is increasingly producing grown children raised under a ‘good father’ and an ‘upstanding and obedient wife’ who will spend the rest of their lives recovering from the trauma, who only need to look at a family based on love, acceptance, and respect to be able to see and prefer the difference. It takes a lot of work to hold the cult together, our job is to be different.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @Nazani @ralfmaximus @futurebird

    Undefined ‘days’ are a myth: it says (in every faithful translation) some version of “So the evening and the morning were the first[/second/third] day.”

    So either it’s all an allegory or it’s literally days as we know them: imho anything else is self-serving post-hoc irrational status-quo preserving defence to avoid having to deal with difficult questions.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @ralfmaximus @futurebird @Nazani

    Oh, I agree… I’m just saying you can’t have it both ways: if someone insists they take scripture literally, I will insist they take it all literally without cherry picking the convenient parts for their purpose.

    Which, as you say, does not means scripture is irrelevant or meaningless - allegory is very important, and the search for meaning requires it.

    Screenshot. Text reads: "I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth. The only truth I can understand or express is, logically defined, a lie. Psychologically defined, a symbol. Aesthetically defined, a metaphor." - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
    ALT
  • Reply
    • pluralistic , to random
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Your periodic reminder that if you:

    a) Dislike long threads and;

    b) Follow someone who routinely posts long threads;

    that is a YOU problem, which you can solve by unfollowing, and, if need be, blocking that user so they don't show up in your federated timeline.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    In a place where we have a truly remarkable level of control over our feeds, it boggles my mind how many people want to dictate to others how they should behave.

    DavidM_yeg , to random
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    Well… as someone who grew up in the 80s, I can confirm: this describes most of the last 40 years.

    “If you try to create a system where people do the right thing because they're selfish assholes, you normalize being a selfish asshole. Eventually, the selfish assholes form a cozy little League of Selfish Assholes and turn on the rest of us.”

    from @pluralistic
    https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/08/money-talks/#bullshit-walks

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    Republicans showed us something important about their coordinated, orchestrated attack this Easter weekend on Biden and Democrats in general. As Biden went to church on Easter Sunday and Trump did not – as he never does – but spewed bile on social media, Republicans mounted a coordinated, orchestrated attack on Biden and Democrats because Easter coincided with trans visibility day this year.

    #Republicans #Trump #Easter #WhiteChristianNationalism
    /1

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @wdlindsy

    It’s a remarkable and perverted idea of ‘Christian’ rooted in a nation that decided to twist their faith to allow them to support a horrible, evil, grotesque system of racial slavery.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @wdlindsy

    You have to work very hard to make a faith centred on Jesus, his words and actions, into this religion… and they do. I have watch firsthand how much effort goes into the indoctrination that allows churches to make christianity into this awfulness.
    Worth noting that so many leading abolitionists were followers and ‘friends of’ Jesus, and that they explicitly said that it was that faith that lead them to put their lives on the line for the cause.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Via Lisa Rubin: 1/...

    ..don't say I didn't warn ya. W 2 wks til jury selection is slated to begin, has a pending motion to adjourn trial due to pretrial publicity--& now wants to revisit whether Merchan should be recused as well

    Frank Runyeon:

    Trump fires back by suggesting attacks on Justice Merchan's daughter are actually justified complaints about judge's perceived bias & ethical failures

    Trump will file (a renewed) recusal motion seeking to get judge off the case

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @GottaLaff

    This sounds suspiciously like:

    the judge can’t be fair because I have attacked their family which will make them biased against me.

    Wow.

    VisualStuart , to random
    @VisualStuart@pdx.social avatar

    The words "under God" were added to the US Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, during the Cold War, under the Eisenhower administration, to mark a distinction between the USA and so-called 'godless' communism of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

    When people today quote "one nation, under God" as evidence that the founders of this country created a Christian Nationalist country, they are repeating historical inaccuracies. You are welcome to correct them.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @VisualStuart

    That’s also about the time that the US adopted “In God We Trust” as a national motto, supplanting the older but unofficial “E Pluribus Unum”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_motto

    pluralistic , to random
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    "Enshittification" isn't just a way of describing the symptoms of platform decay: it's also a theory of the mechanism of decay - the means by which platforms get shittier and shittier until they are a giant pile of shit.

    --

    If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

    https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/26/glitchbread/#electronic-shelf-tags

    1/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    I have long been an advocate (within my own small circles) of aggressive pricing stability regulation. I got thinking about this a few decades ago in response to gasoline pricing, an industry prone to dramatic price swings, price wars, and accusations of collusion and gouging.

    1/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    The concept goes something like this: once you set your price, you need to stick with it for a defined period of time (for gas, something like 7-10 days) Allow ‘sale’ prices, but limit the proportions of sales to regular pricing (1-2%) with exceptions for perishable products.

    2/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    Some people may say we already have some of these, but they are weak, very poorly enforced, and lead to insignificant slap-on-the-wrist / cost-of-doing-business type penalties. So the next part of addressing things meaningfully are penalties scaled to affect the bottom line.

    3/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    A business that engages in price fixing or profiteering or manipulative pricing strategies should face penalties of gross revenue for that product line or category for at least the period they engaged in the practice, possibly more as a punitive measure.

    4/

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic

    ‘But this will bankrupt businesses!’

    Good.

    That will provide businesses with incentive to stay well clear of infractions, and clear a bunch of scummy exploitative businesses and business practices out of our economic lives.

    Corporations may be fictional ‘people’ but in my books there is no inherent right to ‘life’ for them.

    5/f

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @dalias @pluralistic

    Interesting how so many supposed free marketers talk as if stockholders are somehow entitled to safety in their investments, when instead an incorporation was dreamed up to insulate them because what they were doing was inherently risky and we wanted people to able to only risk their investment, and not have to risk also losing their home and the shirt off their back.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Gold ring with quartz intaglio depicting an ant. Roman, 1st-2nd century AD

    I wonder who wore this ring. Why did they choose an ant as their symbol? It's interesting to me that the depiction is specific enough that it can't be written off as a general "bug" the mandibles, and body plan make this explicitly an ant.

    The ant motif appears on garnets in other rings.

    This is up in New Haven at the Yale University Art Collection and I am not contemplating becoming a cat burglar.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird

    In hindsight, it’s not surprising… we know from Aesop that ants were associated with industriousness centuries before that: why wouldn’t a Roman industry magnate or agribusiness tycoon use an ant as their symbol? There are so many things to admire about them!

    dangillmor , to random
    @dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

    Today's post from @pluralistic is one of his best, and a must--must-read (as opposed to the normal must-read) essay.

    https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/25/black-boxes/

    It's about trust and institutions, rationalizations and rationale, and living as best we can in a world where we have to find our way through dense thickets of corporate/government deceit to -- we hope -- make sound decisions.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pluralistic @dangillmor

    Excellent article…

    But by blaming […] the credulity of believers […] we adopt the logic of the right: "conspiratorialism is a problem of individuals believing wrong things,"

    Screenshot from the end of the article. Text reads: Long before opportunistic right wing politicians realized they could get mileage out of pointing at the terrifying epistemological crisis of trying to make good choices in an age of institutions that can't be trusted, the left was sounding the alarm. Conspiratorialism - the fracturing of our shared reality - is a serious problem, weakening our ability to respond effectively to endless disasters of the polycrisis. But by blaming the problem of conspiratorialism on the credulity of believers (rather than the deserved disrepute of the institutions they have lost faith in) we adopt the logic of the right: "conspiratorialism is a problem of individuals believing wrong things," rather than "a system that makes wrong explanations credible - and a schismogenic insistence that these institutions are sound and trustworthy."
    ALT
  • Reply
    • + pluralistic
    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Via Sherrilyn Ifill:

    As I’ve been saying. #Musk may now be the most far reaching & influential peddler of eugenicist & racist propaganda in our country. Unfit to be a partner with U.S. agencies or to receive U.S. taxpayer dollars. But he’s “too big to fail,” b/c so many political & business leaders have poor character discernment when blinded by wealth.
    Elon Musk keeps spreading a very specific kind of racism.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @GottaLaff

    “Too big to fail” is the biggest crock, such a huge lie perpetrated (and bought by gullible people) again and again. “Too big to fail” really means, “Holds far too much power, influence, and consequence to be allowed to continue in one basket”. We will always be better breaking them up: there will be a better, stronger, economy, better working conditions, more competition, and more resilience.

    18+ futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I keep seeing these discussions in left circles about how terrible social media is. It angers & frustrates me that Mastodon & the Fediverse don't even merit a mention.

    "The Majority Report" goes as far as dissing Threads but never mentions the fedi.

    There are only 170 comments. Why not leave a comment asking why "the left" keeps complaining (rightly) about corporate social media but ignoring the alternative?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqY7sLRaUWQ

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird @secretsloth

    Not so different from when ‘the internet’ was new and no one had any idea what that actually meant because it seemed so nebulous.

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @secretsloth @futurebird @bjc

    Unfortunately a whole lot of people have actually bought the idea that there is less manipulation now that Musk is in charge bc they aren’t swamped with people telling their ideas are racist, callous, dehumanizing crap, and they think that means they are no longer being manipulated.

    18+ dgar , to random
    @dgar@aus.social avatar

    …

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @darklyadapted

    Sorry, but I’m stuck on your profile name, so I have to ask:

    Is Madame Decadent Sneezy Bottom any relation to Sir Fancypants Fartsalot?

    @NormanDunbar @RobertWT @dgar @Steve_p_photos @buddhawilliams @weirdfolks @kinsale42

    RustyBertrand , to random
    @RustyBertrand@mastodon.ie avatar

    Riftia tubeworm (Riftia pachyptila )

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @RustyBertrand @feliks @futurebird

    My initial thought seeing this out of context was that you were making a reference to conflicting values of the Hubble constant recently confirmed, as if the universe is in great big tiles, each with it’s own constant.

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/latest-webb-space-telescope-data-confirms-hubbles-value-for-expansion-of-universe/

    saddestrobots , to random
    @saddestrobots@jorts.horse avatar

    absolutely unhinged

    look how quickly this can happen, we're all just one ruling-class vibe-check away from full "papers please" mode

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @saddestrobots
    “We have to keep boosting police budgets, bc people feel unsafe” as police use extra funding to dramatically expand ‘media relations’ departments that spend their time figuring out how to convince you that you aren’t safe.

    jeffowski , to random
    @jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar

    #climatechange #climatedenial

    DavidM_yeg ,
    @DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca avatar

    @jeffowski

    My father was chief medical officer of health for a part of Toronto… his career spanned the battle against smoking: it’s all the same tactics, with the same huge investments in misinformation and the same level of dishonestly and outright lying and cheating.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines
    •