@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca cover
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

the5thColumnist

@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca

Retired Parliamentary Indexer. Socialist, political observer and sometime activist with HBA in Political Science, Laurentian University, 1973. Outdoorsperson, environmentalist, cyclist and former mountain biker. Amateur photographer and mapmaker.
#ottbike #ottpoli #ottawa #photography #nobridge

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

TheConversationUS , to histodons group
@TheConversationUS@newsie.social avatar

70 years after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board, one of its most significant side effects − the large-scale loss of Black teachers − continues to affect America’s schools.
Before Brown, Black teachers were 35% to 50% of the teacher workforce in segregated states.
Today, Black people account for just 6.7% of America’s public K-12 teachers.
https://theconversation.com/how-black-teachers-lost-when-civil-rights-won-in-brown-v-board-229687
#History #Histodons @histodons @blackmastodon #BlackMastodon

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@TheConversationUS @histodons @blackmastodon
because "black kids in my kid's class is one thing, black teachers teaching them is another".

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Where I live, there is just one garbage truck, which picks up all the garbage from all houses in a large neighborhood. It is both cheap and efficient.

Yet for some reason, 8 different delivery companies drive the same streets to bring out parcels, and at least 10 different companies deliver food.

Something tells me, we have not found the optimal way to do this yet.

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@randahl
I suspect your garbage delivery is taxpayer funded and government run, even if it is subcontracted to the private sector.

PS I got two packages delivered to me one day by the same private courier company, at two different times, I'm assuming from two different trucks . That's private sector efficiency for you.

MikeDunnAuthor , to random
@MikeDunnAuthor@kolektiva.social avatar

Today in Labor History May 4, 1970: Ohio National Guards murdered four students at Kent State University. They also injured nine others, including one who was permanently paralyzed. During the massacre, they fired 67 rounds in 13 seconds at the unarmed crowd. The students were protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. With the current wave of student protests against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the government’s response is looking sickeningly similar to its response to student protests in the early 70s: Violent repression, use of chemical agents, snipers on rooftops. If the vitriolic rhetoric of politicians and pundits continues, another student massacre seems imminent.

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@MikeDunnAuthor
American foreign policy (which this is based on) has always been a bi-partisan affair, the interests of the American Empire have no party boundaries.

JubalBarca , to histodons group
@JubalBarca@scholar.social avatar

So this one is an interesting perennial example of certain social effects around understanding history, not least the assumption that historians have no real lives or ability to understand the everyday (we are actually human!)

These Roman dodecahedrons are genuinely interesting and a curious mystery:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-68908558

Every time they appear online some very vociferous people insist they know and there's no mystery - these are definitely a knitting tool. But...

@histodons

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@JubalBarca @histodons
Looks an awful lot like the ends of a bike wrench I used to have.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Could anyone from Finland please educate me: If there is only one N in Finland, why are there two Ns in words derived from Finland like, Finn (a person from Finland) and Finnish (the word to characterise something as being from Finland)?

Yours Sincerely
Randahl from Denmark… who is not Dennish. 😀

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@randahl
Not from Finland (but I lived in Sudbury) but I expect what you are talking about is more an English language thing than a Suomi thing.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180225-the-mysterious-origins-of-finlands-true-name

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

I see criticism of the aid package, which was signed by President Biden today, because the package not only supports Ukraine but also Israel.

I am critical of the Netanyahu government too. However, I think you should look at the proportions. The aid package contains 26 billion for the middle east, BUT 4 billion is for air defence, and 9 billion for humanitarian initiatives, which leaves Israel with 13 billion.

Now compare that to the 61 billion dedicated to Ukraine — almost 5 times more.

1/2

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@randahl
Except Ukraine needs foreign aid, Israel doesn't, but Palestine certainly does, most of it has just been blown to kingdom come.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

On the contrary, giving someone a fair trial when they are indicted for committing a crime, is what having a justice system is all about.

the5thColumnist ,
@the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

@randahl

L'État, c'est moi

RonaldVisser , to AcademicChatter group
@RonaldVisser@akademienl.social avatar


This is a weird choice for an abbreviation:

"SS is an excellent place for ѕсholars"

No, I do not want to join the SS!

@academicchatter

Academic spam asking to joint as reviewer Quoting text: "SS is an excellent place for ѕсholars, experts and research fellows to present research breakthroughs on social sciences. To Be the Εditоrial Cοmmittее/Revіeԝer SS is in pursuit of active and reputed researchers and scientists to be our reᴠieᴡers or еԁitorial mеmЬеrs. Sсһolars interested in jοіning our еԁitorial Ьoarԁ or reᴠieᴡer team are invited to do so if they meet the eligibility criteria."
ALT
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    • the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @RonaldVisser @academicchatter
    The sciences new BS had bad connotations so they used BSc. Seem sthe social sciences might see SSc as a better choice than SS.

    faab64 , to random

    WTF is happening in Germany

    Seriously #WTAF is this shit?

    #Football #Adidas #scandal

    edition.cnn.com/2024/04/02/sty…

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @faab64
    How hard is it to make a 4 that, well, looks like a 4.

    FediTips , (edited ) to random
    @FediTips@social.growyourown.services avatar

    If you're an ordinary Mastodon user, the "block domain" option does not block servers, it just mutes them. It hides their posts from you, but does not hide your posts from them.

    Only server admins can do actual blocks through defederation, preferably on a server that has activated "authorized fetch".

    For example, if you want to avoid threads.net, you need to join a server that has defederated threads.net. (You can find nice servers that block threads.net at https://fedi.garden)

    #FediTips

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @FediTips
    none in Canada

    dalfen , to random
    @dalfen@mstdn.social avatar

    It’s so hard to find a stupid TV nowadays but so better to use one.

    Roku Smart TV: Roku’s idea of showing ads on your HDMI inputs seems like an inevitable hell
    https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/5/24121958/roku-ads-tv-hdmi-inputs-patent-amazon-google

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @dalfen
    I think smart TVs are dumb. Put the smart stuff on a device like a Roku that you plug into your TV then you can update the smart stuff without buying a new TV.

    ElleGray , (edited ) to random
    @ElleGray@mstdn.social avatar

    No gambling with ducks

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @ElleGray
    My favourite is Walking On Bicycles Permitted, although I've seen the Prohibited version as well.

    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

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird @lampsofgold
    social sounds too communist for some people
    what about "Internet Commune"

    jeffowski , to random
    @jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar

    As an I shun the holidays that have a specific religious connotation.
    Anything with "Saint" in the front of the holiday, nope.
    Christmas? nope.
    Secular people mark the passage of time and set aside time to reflect. Most religious holidays are timed (or were moved) to coincide with Solstices and Equinoxes of the pagans that watched the skies.
    As a secular person, my seasonal holidays are linked to the sun and the passage of time on this earth.
    Happy Vernal

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @jeffowski
    just call the holiday by it's pagan name Eostre

    https://historycooperative.org/eostre/

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @jeffowski
    I think it is just interesting that the Christians didn't even bother to change the name when they stole Easter from the Pagans.

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    Josh Kovensky asks what white men are complaining about. He's looking at the secret society about which he recently produced a blockbuster report, the Society for American Civic Renewal. It's comprised of powerful white Christian men (heterosexual only) who claim that the power of straight white Christian men in the US is being eroded, and they're mad as hell. This society was founded for them to rule, and they intend to take it back.


    /1

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/sib-archive/tpms-the-weekender-why-are-the-white-men-complaining

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @wdlindsy
    someone should write a novel about that

    alice , to random
    @alice@lgbtqia.space avatar

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

    •
    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @alice
    or North American and other governments could require the same measures as Europe does.

    pbump , to random
    @pbump@journa.host avatar

    The day before Hur's testimony about Biden and classified documents, CNN published an interview that offers new reason to think that Trump kept some classified documents even after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/12/theres-new-reason-think-trump-still-has-classified-documents/

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @pbump
    that photo looks staged

    Krisss , to random Dutch
    @Krisss@mastodon.nl avatar

    Photo by Hieu Hoang
    Source: Pexels

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @Krisss
    lovely

    jeffowski , to random
    @jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @jeffowski
    YES

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I think most people would object to forcing women to wear skirts. Beating up girls who do unladylike things like dancing or calculus. Many can even see how silly it is to tease a boy for enjoying painting more than sports.

    Most* get this.

    What I don't understand is how it isn't obvious that transphobia is the exact same impulse.

    There is no "reasonable" amount of transphobia you can tolerate without also supporting rigid harmful gender norms in general. 1/

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird
    Gender stereotyping in clothing is long entrenched. Remember they invented a whole new type of saddle rather than allow women to wear skirts riding horses. That being said the time did come when women wearing pants was accepted but men in skirts not so much.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Same sex marriage has been legal. What exactly has happened? Where are the horror stories of cats and dogs living together and mass hysteria?

    As people try to undo this popular change ... where is the evidence of harm or tumult? They don't even attempt to make such a case because it's so futile.

    That alone should end the misguided quest to tear families apart.

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird
    what evidence do you need besides "god is angry" and that is why all the bad stuff in the world is happening

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

    It annoys me how people talk about using social media like it's a vice. And a female-coded one at that.

    "Spend less time on social media" is trotted out a virtuous in the same way that "not eating a pint of ice cream" is.

    Imagine if in the early days of movable type, there were people going around saying "don't read pamphlets, they are full of misinformation"

    Social media is the primary way news is disseminated. It is superseding newspapers and TV as the primary vector of mass media. 1/

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird
    We need real journalist with journalistic standards and ethics. I used BrandX for news because reputable journalists posted breaking news their before filing their stories but I won't depend on random social media posts for news just because they agree with my mindset

    stephanie , to bookstodon group
    @stephanie@ottawa.place avatar

    I was curious as to why Sarah J. Maas had some many fans and is so highly rated on .

    I read the first Crescent City and quite enjoyed it. Kinda badly written and full of stereotypes, but entertaining.

    The second one though?! It's just... trashy and boring. Wow.

    @bookstodon

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @stephanie @bookstodon
    If you think the popularity of authors does not make sense you should look at politicians. LOL

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Are there therapists who specialize in helping children who are stressed out giving tech support to their parents?

    My mom is a mathematician. She can program w/ punch cards. But, she & Dad just don't keep up with tech anymore. Drives me nuts.

    Gave my dad an iPhone for Christmas. They HATE it. Probably would hate any phone. Now they say it's recording their conversations.🙄

    Dad holds down the buttons on the side when he picks it up. Activates the voice assistant... they think it's a hacker.

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird @stveje
    You could have stopped at "the market isn't working".

    aires , to blackmastodon group
    @aires@tiggi.es avatar

    Do you, or have you ever, used a graphical user interface? If you use , , or any version of with a window manager or desktop environment, you can thank Dr. Clarence "Skip" Ellis.

    Dr. Ellis worked at Xerox PARC, the research organization that developed the modern GUI. Icons, windows, the mouse, Ethernet-based networking, laser printing - all of these (and more) came out of PARC. Dr. Ellis led the team that created Officetalk, the first program to use icons and the Internet. He got his start at 15 years old showing a local tech company how to reuse punch cards, which was a game-changer back in 1958.

    Oh, and he was also the first black man to earn a PhD in Computer Science.

    @blackmastodon

    https://elective.collegeboard.org/clarence-skip-ellis-computer-science-pioneer
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Ellis_(computer_scientist)
    https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-6/clarence-ellis

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @aires @blackmastodon
    The first time I saw a mouse was way back in the day when I had an informal demo of the new Canadian Senate Debates production system from Xerox.

    PS "back in the day" = so far back I can't remember exactly when.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Apple’s journaling app! (If I’m trapped in a “walled garden” might as well check out the plants.) The app uses location, photo and other data to suggest events to journal about— The photos help jog memory & make writing less daunting.

    I hope that more apps make use of the api — although wouldn’t it be nice if it were an open “event” protocol instead? (and if one could export journals to, tumblr)

    I think this app could really help many people I know with memory and organization issues.

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird
    Remember when Windows was supposed to be to be that. If programs met the Windows specs they were supposed to be.interoperable with any other Windows based program. Then Microsoft decided they could make more money if they convinced everybody they needed to buy their programs, and then ever better have to rent them.

    wdlindsy , to random
    @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

    In one day, two Moms for Liberty, Florida-based stories break. The first was reporting by Judd Legum and Tesnim Zekeria that Jennifer Pippin, chair of Moms for Liberty in Indian River County, Florida, has coerced the local school board to draw clothes on a character in Maurice Sendak's classic book In the Night Kitchen.

    Pippin seeks to convince us that innocent children's books showing a character unclothed are pornography.


    /1

    https://popular.info/p/pressed-by-moms-for-liberty-florida

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @wdlindsy
    Equating nudity with sex seems to be a uniquely North American thing.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Via Bill Browder:

    Very clever way for the US administration to arm Ukraine in the short term while the big US arms package is blocked by a few Putin supporters in DC

    The Kyiv Independent:

    ⚡️Media: Biden arms via Greece.

    A U.S. legal authority known as Excess Defense Articles (EDA) allows the president to deem certain weapons systems surplus and transfer them to partner nations at a cheap price or without cost.

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @nomdeb @GottaLaff
    The Democrats already have to choose another person capable of being President so just choose the Vice Presidential nominee as the Presidential one.

    soc_i_ety , to random
    @soc_i_ety@mstdn.ca avatar

    Despite the centuries of looking for a third way, are there really only two directions in politics that still remain, left and right?

    Everything else seems just a matter of how extreme or how indifferent we can be.

    :mastodon:

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @philip_cardella @soc_i_ety c
    Not sure where you get the fascism connection the "third way". Certainly in today;' political time it is more identified with a wishy washy form of social democracy.

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

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @soc_i_ety @philip_cardella
    Well it is a pretty vague phrase, I believe it's recent usage in social democratic circles started with Tony Blair and so called New Labour, although apparently Bill Clinton got mixed up in it too. I'm an old class warfare working class politics type of guy myself.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/feb/10/labour.uk1

    breadandcircuses , to random
    @breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

    Pete Seeger, born in 1919, was a folk music legend and social justice icon. He used his music to raise awareness of important issues and rally people to action from social rights to anti-war engagement.

    While being a prolific singer and songwriter since the 1940s with numerous hits, and a civil rights and anti-war activist in the 1960s and 70s, Pete continued to perform and record music into his later years, remaining active in politics, supporting various causes like nuclear disarmament and environmental protection.

    In 2008, he released the album "At 89" which includes his song "If It Can’t Be Reduced."

    LEARN MORE -- https://innovation.world/recycling-lesson-by-pete-seeger/

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @breadandcircuses
    https://youtu.be/ZhaXBcLmxiE?feature=shared

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Twitter wasn't a valuable company because of their innovative technology, or the exciting IP. Twitter has only ever matter and only ever will matter because of who is there.

    the5thColumnist ,
    @the5thColumnist@mstdn.ca avatar

    @futurebird
    so true

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