tehstu

flexghost , 15 hours ago to random

2/3 of Supreme Court "Justices" have taken bribes and refused oversight

And that's how you get this:

tehstu , 11 hours ago

@flexghost "The Founders didn't think to prevent the Supreme Court being corrupt", rules Supreme Court.

Am I understanding this correctly?

jerry , 4 days ago to random

My first time seeing one in person. Yikes

tehstu , 4 days ago

@jerry my whole family was there to see our first one the other day, and it was as spectacularly stupid as we'd hoped.

bontchev , 11 days ago to random

"Be 'ambitious' on climate, scientists urge parties":

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy00vdj588xo

Ah, what scientists? Lessee, according to the article,

"The letter has been signed by 408 members of the UK's climate science community - some of the most distinguished of the country's academics."

O'Rly? Let's look at the letter itself, shall we?

https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Open_letter_to_Party_Leaders_June_2024.pdf

Who has signed it? Just a few examples:

• Associate Professor of Accounting (wait, that's an academic title?!)
• Archeologist
• Geographer
• Chemist
• Professor of Politics
• Professor of Moral Philosophy
• etc., I give up

The usual suspects, I see. All of them - distinguished experts in climatology. Oh, well, at least Gandalf and the bee keeper didn't sign this time...

tehstu , 11 days ago

@bontchev Ed Hawkins signed it.

ElleGray , 12 days ago (edited 11 days ago) to random

I love the Welsh lol

tehstu , 12 days ago

@inthehands @ElleGray https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/pub-warned-after-dj-played-10576378

Wow. Whole thing reads like "nice pub license you have there... be a shame if someone revoked it"

parismarx , 17 days ago to random

Germany’s AfD is so extreme it was kicked out of the far-right grouping in the European Parliament last month, but Elon Musk thinks their policies “don’t sound extremist.” That’s because he’s also a fascist.

#tech #elonmusk #politics

tehstu , 17 days ago

@parismarx I don't think he's missing anything. He knows what he's doing.

alice , 17 days ago to random

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

tehstu , 17 days ago

@alice that's really bloody annoying.

jerry , 18 days ago to random

So much Wi-Fi enabled smart shit in this world. Why can’t I have a condensate pump that tells me when the drain line is clogged or running slower than normal?

tehstu , 18 days ago

@jerry well that prompted me to read up on what a condensate pump is, and made me realize I have a gravity line to the drain in my basement. I'll have to file that away in things I need to keep an eye on.

futurebird , 21 days ago (edited 21 days ago) to random

I’m crying on the bus (again) because some middle school kids decided that for their “design challenge” they’d envision an emergency food delivery drone that could fly high enough and fast enough that no one could shoot it down. And no one asked why someone would want to shoot down a food delivery drone— or why you couldn’t just drive a truck.

tehstu , 21 days ago

@futurebird it's really unfortunate how many people are missing the subtext of this post.

tehstu , 21 days ago

@linebyline @futurebird I thought so, too. One wonders how sheltered some people are from news

pluralistic , 21 days ago to random

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: Surveillance pricing; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/05/your-price-named/

#Pluralistic

1/

The produce section of a grocery store, with Kroger's signage. It is animated. The image fades to a version in which all the hand-lettered price signs are replaced with code waterfalls as seen in the credit-sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movies. The image fades again and the huge, menacing eye of HAL9000 from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' appears in the center aisle, and all the prices have doubled. The image fades again and the doubled prices are replaced with the code waterfall again. The image then loops. Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

tehstu , 21 days ago

@pluralistic this article pissed me off more and more the further I got into it. But thanks for writing it.

I went to renew* my Microsoft 365 Family subscription. The cheapest I found was Costco, $89 for 15 months and a $10 Visa card. Better then the default $99 renewal. Except, when I logged in it bumped it to $99. I couldn't get the $89 price, even in a private window. This is on a locked down Firefox. Twiddling.

*I know, I know. But I've given myself 15 months to find an alternative.

luckytran , 23 days ago to random

This article is misleading and emboldens pandemic deniers and minimizers.

It's incorrect to say there was no science to support distancing rules.

The science absolutely shows us that increasing physical distance is associated with decreasing risk.

The nuance that is dangerously not conveyed here is that while distancing helps, 6-feet alone often isn't enough because COVID is airborne, so we need layered measures like masks and clean air too.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/02/six-foot-rule-covid-no-science/

tehstu , 22 days ago

@luckytran Yeah, what with them battling the NYT for the most centrist take, and the incoming Torygraph editor, I'm filtering all WaPo stuff out of my timeline now. Have been doing so for the NYT for ages.

I don't care if they're both capable of excellent journalism, their business model (or editorial directive, I care not which it is) clearly requires absolute both-sidesing key issues.

jerry , 26 days ago to random

FYI, being offended by someone ordering Lockheed Martin socks or saying they would like them work at Lockheed Martin should be addressed by blocking the person, not with a report.

Thank you for attending my speech.

tehstu , 26 days ago

@jerry I'd been on Mastodon about 18 months before I stopped fretting about wasting moderator time and filed a report for a genuinely abusive comment (not even a reply, just an outright mention).

But apparently people fart out reports for stuff they don't like.

alice , 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago) to random

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

tehstu , 28 days ago

@alice Just immeasurably unacceptable. I don't even know where to begin. I'm so sorry.

rbreich , 29 days ago to random

Trump insists on calling Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg "Soros backed" (posting the phrase at least 3x in the last 24 hours).

George Soros did not endorse or contribute to Bragg. By falsely connecting them, Trump is playing into a range of baseless antisemitic conspiracy theories.

tehstu , 29 days ago

@rbreich a certain demographic will in one breath deem any criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and in the next spout antisemitic commentary on George Soros.

futurebird , 1 month ago to random

E-bikes are very cool and I'm glad they are getting popular.

However.

There is a big difference between a crash at 12mph and one at 20mph.

Your ebike can give you injuries normally only found in motorcycle accidents. And there isn't enough advice on what constitutes sufficient maintenance for ebikes.

If you don't get balding tires fixed on a regular bike you could fall off and bruise or break a leg.

At ebike speeds that same fall will shatter your leg in dozens of pieces.

BE CAREFUL

tehstu , 1 month ago

@futurebird Exactly! My barely teenage son wants one, reassuringly pointing to the box saying it only goes 25mph.

At least they are, for his age, fairly expensive so I won't have to worry about that for a while.