Woodswalked

@Woodswalked@mstdn.party

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

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

When there is an incumbent a debate is an opportunity for the country to "get to know" the challenger. When both candidates are former presidents, neither of whom have been out of the news even for a moment... what is the point?

Will we learn anything new?

I'm seeing a lot of panic and "This is bad for Biden" flickering by, and I'd agree ... if he wasn't someone we already knew.

Never-forget the implicit desire media has for a horse race.

I'll be curious to see the ratings.

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird
Thank you.

wdlindsy , to random
@wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

"By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court today blessed the practice of taking 'gratuities' as a gift for past behavior by an official, distinguishing them from 'bribes,' which require proof that there was an illegal deal in place."

~ Heather Cox Richardson


/1

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-26-2024

Woodswalked ,

@wdlindsy
Excellent article, thank you for sharing.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I understand the alternate reality about the last election. But I don't understand the alternate reality about COVID. That's the most wild thing about it.

Is it that COVID isn't really a deadly infectious disease?
Or was it made in a lab?
Or is it deadly, but the vaccine isn't real?
Or did the vaccine cause the disease?
Or is the vaccine ... mind control? IDK?

There isn't really a cohesive story so it ought to be very awkward for any politician to claim to be a champion of this theory.

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird
This can be oversimplified as all things can, but my view is that the vast majority of the anti-vaccine and anti-masking is from the belief that poor people, especially minorities, have less access to health care, and especially early on those exposed tended to live in cities, and black people were statistically more likely to die. This is all about racism.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Might join this dojo just to get the jacket!

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird
👀
Dad?
Are you using other people’s devices again?

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

It's only happened twice:

Andrew Johnson refused to attend the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant.

Donald Trump refused to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden.

Media have been stonewalled asking "Will you recognize the winner if not Trump?" I would like to hear this question asked. "If Biden wins in a free and fair election will you graciously attend the inauguration?"

The current dodge is "you can't know if it will be fair, how can I answer that"

OK, but if it is fair. What then?

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird

Yes, exactly!
The only way to interpret his claims that he won in California except for millions of fraudulent votes is that he is claiming millions of Californian voters should not be allowed to vote. We all know which groups he means.

cc: @MargaretSefton

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

So of ya'll talk about "reply guys" on Mastodon. And yeah that exists, but it's like the least annoying of the gruesome menagerie I used to deal with every day on X social media.

There were:

  • Stalker
  • Mr. Race Science
  • Always Wrong, Thinks He's Right
  • Mr. I'm Making This About Politics
  • Ms. Gender(ing everyone for no reason)
  • Mr. Just Plain Racist
  • Mr. I thought I blocked you?
  • Mr. "I know where you work"

and on and on

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird
That’s our Mastodon!

cc: @DaveMWilburn

SmudgeTheInsultCat , to random
@SmudgeTheInsultCat@mas.to avatar
Woodswalked ,

@futurebird

Praise Euler!

cc: @SmudgeTheInsultCat

lowqualityfacts , to random
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

That's fair.
https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

Woodswalked ,

@lowqualityfacts
shakes head
They should be allowed to store them until winter. It is more energy efficient to burn them when we need the heat in the building instead of air conditioning.
Let’s petition the EPA to make these changes.

White Oak Campus
10903 New Hampshire Ave
Silver Spring, MD 20993
United States

No stamps required.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Exciting ant queen collecting trip in AZ. Why does it feel like all the coolest ants are in the South and South West. It's not fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV1CkkkKbOM

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird

“you don't have to worship and serve her OK? you know that... right?”

You aren’t being clear. The way that you wrote that sounds like Pica doesn’t need worshipers to serve her. You just mean that the application process is arduous and we shouldn’t get our hopes up.
Right?

cc: @psistarpsiii @kechpaja @errg

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Square cube law? Square shumb law!

Arthropods can get humongous. The main reason they don't is they are far too tempting targets for warm-blooded vertebrates.

But about that? Why couldn't an arthropod also be warm-blooded? Maybe some were.

And that thing you heard about "giant insects needed higher O2 levels" also questionable. Arthroplura was still around after the levels crashed... something else ended the golden age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZoJyWxGi1A

Woodswalked ,

@futurebird

I am hearing your post sung by Norman Greenbaum.

I don’t know why, but it fits.

cc: @tuban_muzuru @stuartyeates @Ruth_Mottram

philip_cardella , (edited ) to random
@philip_cardella@historians.social avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Woodswalked ,

    @philip_cardella
    Hate Google, but I have made exceptions on somewhat rare occasions. Also if the video has someone talking to an audience then it should be a text. Short clip about a tornado, volcano, or ants might make sense but there is almost nothing that can be shown that wouldn’t be better as a paragraph.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Why is it that the worst tasks: the ones I want to do the least are things that take like 17min tops to complete— but I think about how I haven’t done them — oh no no just can’t bear to do them for 30min a day for two weeks?

    For me, at least, a task is odious if it may cause me to find out bad news that produces more tasks, if it involves forms, if it involves talking to people on the phone, especially someone I don’t know (what if they are mean to me? 😫)

    It’s not THAT bad. Is it?

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    Makes me think of when I was at the DMV waiting an hour in line to then be told that I needed a form from a second line. Hour later, the end of the second line tells me yes I need the form but I can’t get it until I get documentation from the first line. Spent all day at this feeling both bullied and judged.

    Only your nightmare includes an aspect that you can control, thereby making the stress internalized as a form of guilt.

    Stuff of nightmares!

    ariadne , (edited ) to random
    @ariadne@climatejustice.social avatar

    The 'real' in the presidential race are pretty meaningless, so why not a ?
    Here's the question - Will Donald be elected president of the in November? (Clearly he should not be elected to any office, or even allowed on the ballot, but that's not the question)

    Woodswalked ,

    @ariadne
    How about not elected, but selected by the House?

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    My husband wanted me to plant the garden but I found a Tetramorium queen in one of the planters and had to move her colony to a pot where they won’t be disturbed this summer. When I reunited her with her workers she came to life and they all disappeared into the moss to start again. Sorry little queen!

    A shiny black ant hides in moss.

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    Royal drama!

    Daojoan , to random
    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar

    "Embrace AI or be left behind" is a condescending and heartless ultimatum. A false dichotomy that reeks of debunked social darwinist horse-fuckery.

    Tech should adapt to people's needs.

    Not the reverse.

    Woodswalked ,

    @Npars01

    Agreed with this all.
    Good article, salient points.
    Adding that once temperatures cause livestock and agriculture collapse, billionaires well being is even less aligned with the rest of us.

    cc: @Daojoan

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    "What are we to make of the fact that Trump can be re-elected, that the Supreme Court is full of reactionary fanatics, and Congress isn't acting on the will of the American people? For starters, we have a political system that acts like a dam, blocking the 'main stream' of where this country is today. …

    But this system is also a product of our past."

    ~ Elliot Kirschner

    #Trump #Alito #SupremeCourt #corruption #MinorityRule #MinoritarianRule
    /1

    https://elliotkirschner.substack.com/p/wheres-the-mainstream

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy
    Love Hightower.
    He gets it right.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    The decisions and policy that have the most profound impacts on the greatest number of human lives often aren't the ones talked about most often in political discourse.

    What is the biggest difference between life in this era and say... European feudalism?

    I would argue it's near universal literacy. And along with simply having access to the written word, the highest percentage of a population armed with some scraps of what you might call a "liberal arts education"

    The ability to self-teach.

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    I think the goals are to

    1. use ai as excuses for unpopular choices and legal cover
    2. create a surveillance state where everything is monitored - ai isn’t needed but will be funded to get there with ai as the cover
    3. replace the need for humans, so when climate change starvation & heat leads to instability we can just be cleansed away and still have our functions done
    4. class barriers - as you stated

    they are already building bunkers for when we are being killed

    ElleGray , to random
    @ElleGray@mstdn.social avatar

    All I saw was sandwich for at least 15 seconds

    Woodswalked ,

    @ElleGray
    It is still a sandwich.
    Mayonnaise and spinach inside two slabs of salmon. She is an athlete and the salmon is healthier than bread.

    Never mind that swoosh.

    SuzyShearer , to bookstodon group
    @SuzyShearer@mastodon.au avatar

    @bookstodon @bookstodon

    Woodswalked ,

    @SuzyShearer

    Hoopty Frood!

    cc: @bookstodon @bookstodon

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    "The problem that the press needs to explain in those articles is this: why do most voters wrongly believe that the economy is terrible even if their lived experience of it is generally positive? Rarely do these chin-scratching articles ever figure out the most obvious answer: that the press is partly to blame—and that America’s information pipelines are broken, giving millions of voters a dangerously inverted sense of reality."

    ~ Brian Klaas

    https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/joe-biden-and-the-inversion-of-reality

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy
    “voters care about their own finances and those aren’t captured in the numbers!”
    “For example, when the British government is touting its record with foreign direct investment, but people can’t afford groceries or energy bills, it’s sort of missing the point.”

    This is also true of crime.
    Is crime up or down?
    Are you using voluntarily reported police reporting to the FBI as your basis? Or are you seeing the activities of SCOTUS and Congress as your basis?

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy
    It’s mostly to those who have read the article.
    I am pointing out where Klaus sees the point that he isn’t giving enough value to, and comparing it to different example showing how his article is missing the bigger point.

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy
    What Klaas doesn’t get right in my view is that he acknowledges the difference in views and definitions and then denounces them as invalid.

    “…slam my head against a wall again [as people use words in their own vernacular instead of my definitions]”

    He is in my view right about the media, but very, very mistaken about people being “wrong about objective reality.”

    Simile: Those polled don’t treat common use of the word ‘theory’ with the weight of ‘scientific theorem.’

    Woodswalked ,

    @Woodswalked

    So to unpack an example of the “partial.”
    “GDP per capita”
    A factual statement.
    “Admittedly, the US is more unequal than other peer countries”
    A factual statement.

    Between the two he rejects as an inversion of reality that most of those answering the polls are responding to what they perceive in their area, demographics, among their peers and family EXCLUDING the massive inequality of the extremes such as homeless and Billionaires.

    cc: @wdlindsy

    Woodswalked ,

    @Woodswalked

    He is wrong about those being polled, because he isn’t using the same definitions as those being polled. He is sure of his expertise in the denotations so he delegitimizes the connotations that those being polled are applying as being invalid.
    Klaas, I am arguing, is incorrect about the polled being wrong. They are in my view right, they are just seeing different questions than he is seeing using the same words.

    Also, yes the media is bad.

    cc: @wdlindsy

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy
    He is hiding behind legitimate definitions to decry people as being wrong when it’s his framework that is broken.
    Those polled are correct, they just aren’t reading his words the same way.
    If the average between the polled and King Chucky has skyrocketed then the polled is correct in saying that their economy is worse even if it doesn’t take into account the Chuck has so much more money than his mum had.
    Blaming the polled is pretending.
    cc:@benfell

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy

    If Klaas wasn’t looking for the experience of the polled, he shouldn’t be asking them.
    If Klaas is ignoring facts, he should be doing different work.

    As for your personal intuition, it is similar to mine in that I also hate Trump and don’t trust the media.

    My intuition differs because I don’t trust Klaas is reporting a reasonable let alone neutral perspective on the data itself.

    cc: @benfell

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy

    me too

    cc: @benfell

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I’ve been putting off making this post because it’s not what I wanted to report and I’m disappointed. A few weeks back my Dorymyrmex bureni colony showed tantalizing signs of a miraculous recovery from the loss of their queen. I love this colony, I wanted it to be true— (Antdrew on formiculture.com tried to warn me not to be too optimistic: Just because female workers continued to emerge weeks after the queen died did not guarantee the new queen were fertile.) He was right.

    1/

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    I am so sorry.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    She means it too, I can see it in her eyes.

    Woodswalked ,

    @lowqualityfacts
    Past performance is not predictive of future results.

    sandlapper37 , to random
    @sandlapper37@mstdn.social avatar
    Woodswalked ,

    @otownKim

    Their bank accounts disagree.

    Thanks, Harlan Crow.

    https://truthout.org/articles/harlan-crow-funded-ginni-thomas-group-created-in-anticipation-of-citizens-united/

    cc: @sandlapper37

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I will NOT let Pica bully me! I'm bigger than her and she can't "make" me do things!!

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    Remember your place.
    You are there to serve Pica.
    It’s the natural order.

    At least according to my feline overlords.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    That's so badass.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    Woodswalked ,

    @lowqualityfacts
    Beethoven’s name was Huey Lewis in a prior life.
    Strange how reincarnation can come full circle.

    ElleGray , to random
    @ElleGray@mstdn.social avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Woodswalked ,

    @ElleGray
    Meh…

    no different than buying a lottery ticket.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I’ve been wanting this print of ants for years and at last broke down and got it. Just put it in a frame. I could look at it forever— it came with a card with a key to each species!

    The artist is AMAZING for all kinds of insects.
    https://carimnahaboo.com/

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    That driver ant queen is causing me to do a double take. I wouldn’t have even recognized it as an ant.
    Sure the honeypot ant stands out, but it looks like an ant with an unusual feature.
    That driver ant feels almost beetle like, my eyes rolling past the thorax segment as though it wasn’t there…

    rbreich , to random
    @rbreich@masto.ai avatar

    Is this for real?! | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avk3c7XkmNE&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

    Woodswalked ,

    @rbreich
    If it is not real, and he only lied about this in order to get out of paying money in a divorce…

    …is that somehow actually supposed to be better?

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    "I should start writing my year end student reports." I think to myself... and so braced and alarmed by the earliness of this thought I decide to take the weekend off in celebration of daring to even think about planning so early.

    (From the chronicle of common teacher mishaps.)

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    First entry of every list is always “make list” in order to set an attainable success, and to provide critical inertia in accomplishing goals.

    There may or may not be a second entry.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    "the whining machine"
    "the fart farmer"
    "the well of perpetual cries of injustice"
    "fur ball"

    just a few of Pica's nick names

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    "the well of perpetual cries of injustice“

    uh-oh! Pica shares a nickname with my cat!

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Everyone running around excited a non-human primate "used medicine to treat wounds"

    I'm just over here looking at ants who have been doing this since before you were an inkling on the evolutionary tree and wondering what the big deal is.

    Whatever it is ants did it first.

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-ants-can-diagnose-and-treat-their-comrades-infected-wounds-180983526/

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    would => wound
    in inkling => an inkling

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    The overhead for the AI on a minecraft ant is so great that the mod creators limit the colonies to just 20 ants to prevent lag. Fine for gameplay 20 feels like a lot.

    Interesting the kind of things they do: remember the location of their nest, find a path back, collect leaves etc. are so taxing.

    In the real world a colony of 1000+ is typical. Some colonies have millions of ants. And real ants have much more to "process" Kind of gives you a sense of the scale of the intelligence of a colony.

    Woodswalked ,

    @barrygoldman1

    That is quite a list, while I am certain it is still incomplete.

    Impressive aren’t they!

    cc: @mycotropic @futurebird

    manisha , to AcademicChatter group
    @manisha@neuromatch.social avatar

    Funding research, fighting divestment

    "Details about oil majors contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to top universities to build relationships that could help the industry avoid taking climate action were inside thousands of pages of documents unveiled Tuesday by Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability and the Senate Budget committees.

    Of the files released Tuesday, many show the extraordinary lengths energy giants have gone to in order to maintain public support for the oil industry — a major employer that’s also one of the nation’s top corporate climate polluters.

    Companies have acknowledged, then flat-out ignored, stark warnings about the fate of the planet in relation to their activities."

    Big Oil document dump spotlights industry influence in academia

    @academicchatter

    Woodswalked ,

    @manisha

    Thinking this is the most impressive article that I have ever read from Politico. Hope they can keep this up.

    cc: @academicchatter

    luckytran , to random
    @luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

    Timely reminder that historically, has been a day of protest and upholding the right to protest. It says a lot that May Day isn't officially recognized in the U.S.

    Woodswalked ,

    @luckytran
    International Labour Day
    International Worker’s Day
    “generally considered significant as the origin of International Workers' Day held on May 1”
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair
    “When a protest against anti-labor police brutality turned violent”
    https://www.history.com/news/remembering-the-haymarket-riot

    https://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/articles/tracht.html

    dillyd , to random
    @dillyd@allies.social avatar

    What's the collective noun for a bunch of asswipes who block the entire sidewalk corner including the accessibility cutout?

    Woodswalked ,

    @dillyd
    Businessmen

    Pretty sure that is the word for collective @#$%wipes who put their own interests above disability access.

    These look arranged in order to entice use, not simply individuals ending their service without consideration.

    magela , to bookstodon group
    @magela@mstdn.games avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon ooh this is fun.

    Here are 10 authors of whose books I've read at least 5:

    Will Wight
    Terry Pratchett
    Terry Brooks
    Brandon Sanderson
    Michael J. Sullivan
    Amy Tan
    N. K. Jemisin
    Sarah J. Maas
    Charlie N. Holmberg
    V. E. Schwab

    Woodswalked ,

    @MarkT123

    Douglas Adams

    Isaac Asimov

    Robert Asprin

    Neil Gaiman

    Robert Heinlein

    Terry Brooks

    Brandon Sanderson

    Frank Herbert

    David Gerrold

    Robert Anton Wilson (Robert Shea co-wrote on 3 of 6 but it should still count)

    edit:

    cc: @magela @SallyStrange @bookstodon

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    "The display we saw yesterday was a vivid illustration of how the Court has gone thoroughly rogue, cutting itself off from even the appearances of the processes that give it legitimacy. That is the core of the current Court’s corruption."

    ~ Josh Marshall


    /1

    The gift link below is from Robert B. Hubbell at Today's Edition.

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/peering-into-the-corrupt-courts-pretensions-and-corruption/sharetoken/xJYNVg25ptg4

    Woodswalked ,

    @wdlindsy

    Institutions will not save us.
    This includes the Presidency.
    Even if Biden wins in a landslide, we are now a lawless country.
    We are Wiley Coyote looking backwards to the cliff of democracy. Looking down has still to come.

    cc: @timo21

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I haven't really kept up with DARPA. I remember they used to lurk around my college when I was in undergrad trying to get young CS/engineers. Everyone was sort of creeped out by them, "You're going to be making weapons of war, they are totally DOD funded. That's the dark side."

    They had gaming nights and stuff to try to convince us otherwise.

    But... have they made any truly heinous weapons yet? Or did they pull the best move ever and take all the DOD money and make cool if ominous robots?

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    In Information Science they drop heavily redacted papers, and present world issue controversies as projects and then watch you intently for responses. They don’t actually SAY they are recruiters. Of course, that might have changed depending on your response.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I've finally started saving the pdfs of the papers I read in organized folders by topic so I can find them again. I give them clear titles so I know what they are (not DOI345234.pdf) I even put the folder "in the cloud" so I can read them on my phone when I'm bored.

    ...

    please clap

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird
    You are inspiring!
    This is next level organized!
    Whenever a topic needs reference, you will have it at the ready!
    🙇

    RealJournalism , to random
    @RealJournalism@mastodon.social avatar

    Or maybe MAGA Mike is like Lucy with the football. I'll believe it when I see it. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/mike-johnson-ukraine-house-vote-democrats-rcna145471?cid=eml_mda_20240331&user_email=6178f1b4ffd352f367e7b15ac9f42f239b7166116dfcd896d93afa99a5de221d

    Woodswalked ,

    @philip_cardella

    After being KKK or Nazi became publicly uncomfortable for them, they started naming themselves after the Caucasus mountains in Russia. Their Jesus is a blue-eyed pale skin blonde, we know this because the Bible tells us how Jesus blended in with the Ethiopians. Ethiopians are all famously blue eyed and blond.

    Right?

    cc: @andytiedye @otownKim @RealJournalism

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Thinking about judges wigs and other trappings of power.

    Apparently in Poland when they have legal court everyone wears robes: different colors for attorneys and the judge etc.

    Of course in the UK judges still wear wigs which US judges are free to wear too, but simply don't.

    On the US Supreme court it's just black robes-- Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Stephen Breyer have all tried to make skull caps happen but no one else cared.

    US Supreme Court justices only some of them bother with the skull cap.

    Woodswalked ,

    @futurebird

    IF you pass as white or privileged without being ostentatious (appear to have a good lawyer) then most police officers will try to let you keep a clean record.

    If your record isn’t clean, you appear too poor for a lawyer or ahem… not part of the protected group.

    You are lucky to only receive a ticket.

    cc: @sewblue @justafrog

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