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Toward fascism...
Sep. 16th, 2025 12:17 pmHere's the worst thing about all this Charlie Kirk idolatry – the threats of firing and deportation and confiscation of passport and all the other shit the red-caps are doing – it's not because the people pulling the strings actually care about Kirk. Trump didn't even bother to go to the "vigil" at the Kennedy Center, he played golf instead. (perhaps because Kirk was in favor of releasing the Epstein files?)
It's a test-run. If they can get away with getting people fired or deported or jailed for "saying things that make them sad about some guy who incited hatred and violence", then they can do it for nearly anything. Criticize the cops? Jail. Organize a protest against ICE? Jail. Write a post critical of Stephen Miller? Jail. Be a member of a militia that's not right wing? (e.g.: Pink Pistols) Jail.
And make no mistake: When Trump finally has a stroke or heart attack or whatever and the republican party collapses with no cult figurehead to maintain a semblance of cohesion and the democrats are back in power, they're going to do exactly the same thing, but with friendlier words.
It's a test-run. If they can get away with getting people fired or deported or jailed for "saying things that make them sad about some guy who incited hatred and violence", then they can do it for nearly anything. Criticize the cops? Jail. Organize a protest against ICE? Jail. Write a post critical of Stephen Miller? Jail. Be a member of a militia that's not right wing? (e.g.: Pink Pistols) Jail.
And make no mistake: When Trump finally has a stroke or heart attack or whatever and the republican party collapses with no cult figurehead to maintain a semblance of cohesion and the democrats are back in power, they're going to do exactly the same thing, but with friendlier words.
The fruit used to be called a napple. But it sounded a lot like "an apple", so the "n" got removed.
The snake used to be called a nadder.
The cloth thing you wear to protect your clothes used to be a napron.
I learned today that I'd been using (spelling? pronouncing?) "a semblance" wrong since forever. It's not "an assemblance" It's "a semblance"
I'm 100% sure there's a linguistic term for this spelling/pronunciation error/change, but I can't remember what it's called.
The snake used to be called a nadder.
The cloth thing you wear to protect your clothes used to be a napron.
I learned today that I'd been using (spelling? pronouncing?) "a semblance" wrong since forever. It's not "an assemblance" It's "a semblance"
I'm 100% sure there's a linguistic term for this spelling/pronunciation error/change, but I can't remember what it's called.
Why men don't go to college anymore...
May. 3rd, 2025 12:13 pmThis is a fascinating article:
https://celestemdavis.substack.com/p/why-boys-dont-go-to-college
I believe it, and it makes sense (given the inside-out-bonkers country we're in now) but it felt like reading about some other place because it didn't match my experience/memory at all.
tl;dr: men aren't going to college because fragile masculinity.
When I was looking at colleges in high school, the M:F ratio was absolutely a consideration, but for very different reasons: More women than men meant it was more likely that you (I) could find someone I liked who liked me back and there could be smooching.
I didn't finish college because I was not a great student, not because I didn't want to be there.
https://celestemdavis.substack.com/p/why-boys-dont-go-to-college
I believe it, and it makes sense (given the inside-out-bonkers country we're in now) but it felt like reading about some other place because it didn't match my experience/memory at all.
tl;dr: men aren't going to college because fragile masculinity.
When I was looking at colleges in high school, the M:F ratio was absolutely a consideration, but for very different reasons: More women than men meant it was more likely that you (I) could find someone I liked who liked me back and there could be smooching.
I didn't finish college because I was not a great student, not because I didn't want to be there.
MAGA downfall?
Feb. 4th, 2025 08:32 amI know, that's probably a little premature.
Do I know anyone who works at a university or similar who might have access to this paper?
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/democracy-by-mistake-how-the-errors-of-autocrats-trigger-transitions-to-freer-government/7F9054A5F636EEE21B3BF56EF1BF8930#access-block
I don't want to spend $26 on it, but I'd like to read it.
The paper is about what causes authoritarian regimes to fail.
Something I read suggested that the current regime is doing all (or way too many) of the things way too fast without installing enough authoritarian infrastructure to survive challenges. I think. That's why I'd like to read it.
Do I know anyone who works at a university or similar who might have access to this paper?
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/democracy-by-mistake-how-the-errors-of-autocrats-trigger-transitions-to-freer-government/7F9054A5F636EEE21B3BF56EF1BF8930#access-block
I don't want to spend $26 on it, but I'd like to read it.
The paper is about what causes authoritarian regimes to fail.
Something I read suggested that the current regime is doing all (or way too many) of the things way too fast without installing enough authoritarian infrastructure to survive challenges. I think. That's why I'd like to read it.
Some trip pictures:
Oct. 15th, 2024 08:16 pmI kinda suck at stuffing things here. (Dreamwidth)
Here's some stuff from our trip to Arizona in October of 2024:
This is a sunset. But the sun is going down behind a mountain, and there's clouds.
I barely doctored this photo, and only to make it look like it looked to my eyeballs:
I'd never seen a Sandhill Crane before this. There were probably 500 at a water treatment pond out in the middle of nowhere next to a golf course. The noise of them all was impressive.
This is a damselfly. I know because its wings are together and its eyes separate. (not a dragonfly) It was in a creek bed holding on to its territory.
Curve-billed Thrasher. It's one of the "not a hummingbird" photos.
Until today I didn't know Acorn Woodpeckers were also flycatchers. They're the only species of woodpecker to catch bugs in the air. This photo isn't awesome, it's a little out of focus and cropped a lot. Woodpeckers are tough to catch in flight.
Here's some stuff from our trip to Arizona in October of 2024:
This is a sunset. But the sun is going down behind a mountain, and there's clouds.
I barely doctored this photo, and only to make it look like it looked to my eyeballs:
I'd never seen a Sandhill Crane before this. There were probably 500 at a water treatment pond out in the middle of nowhere next to a golf course. The noise of them all was impressive.
This is a damselfly. I know because its wings are together and its eyes separate. (not a dragonfly) It was in a creek bed holding on to its territory.
Curve-billed Thrasher. It's one of the "not a hummingbird" photos.
Until today I didn't know Acorn Woodpeckers were also flycatchers. They're the only species of woodpecker to catch bugs in the air. This photo isn't awesome, it's a little out of focus and cropped a lot. Woodpeckers are tough to catch in flight.
First interesting use of my dash cam:
Aug. 15th, 2024 06:44 pmMaybe they don't have roundabouts in Vermont
https://youtu.be/eMYvPH1CFc8
https://youtu.be/eMYvPH1CFc8
Unedited Footage of a Bear
Nov. 10th, 2023 10:31 pmA short film on adult swim, called, "Unedited Footage of a Bear"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8
When you get to the end, and you think, "WTF did I just watch?", watch this:
(an explanation. Watch it at 1.25 or 1.5x speed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjv2wzTF9ks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8
When you get to the end, and you think, "WTF did I just watch?", watch this:
(an explanation. Watch it at 1.25 or 1.5x speed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjv2wzTF9ks
Lighting at 40,000 frames per second
Mar. 31st, 2023 09:38 pmLightning at 40,000 frames per second:
https://vp.nyt.com/video/2023/03/27/107200_1_28tb-lightningrod-vid_wg_720p.mp4
Article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/science/lightning-rod-video.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
Yowsza!
https://vp.nyt.com/video/2023/03/27/107200_1_28tb-lightningrod-vid_wg_720p.mp4
Article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/science/lightning-rod-video.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
Yowsza!
Einstein tiles..
Mar. 25th, 2023 06:31 pmtl;dr: someone figured out how to do a Penrose-like never-repeating pattern, but with a single tile.
“einstein” means “one stone” in this context, not the physicist.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mathematicians-discovered-einstein-tile
“A 13-sided shape known as “the hat” has mathematicians tipping their caps.
It’s the first true example of an “einstein,” a single shape that forms a special tiling of a plane: Like bathroom floor tile, it can cover an entire surface with no gaps or overlaps but only with a pattern that never repeats.
“Everybody is astonished and is delighted, both,” says mathematician Marjorie Senechal of Smith College in Northampton, Mass., who was not involved with the discovery. Mathematicians had been searching for such a shape for half a century. “It wasn’t even clear that such a thing could exist,” Senechal says.”
The thing that I don’t quite get is how it can possibly never repeat. Infinity is rather large, and 13 sides is not. There’s a limited way two tiles can touch, right? So why doesn’t that lead to repeated pattern? Maybe I don’t understand what “aperiodic” means.
Anyway, it’s super cool, and I want to tile my kitchen and bathroom with them now.
“einstein” means “one stone” in this context, not the physicist.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mathematicians-discovered-einstein-tile
“A 13-sided shape known as “the hat” has mathematicians tipping their caps.
It’s the first true example of an “einstein,” a single shape that forms a special tiling of a plane: Like bathroom floor tile, it can cover an entire surface with no gaps or overlaps but only with a pattern that never repeats.
“Everybody is astonished and is delighted, both,” says mathematician Marjorie Senechal of Smith College in Northampton, Mass., who was not involved with the discovery. Mathematicians had been searching for such a shape for half a century. “It wasn’t even clear that such a thing could exist,” Senechal says.”
The thing that I don’t quite get is how it can possibly never repeat. Infinity is rather large, and 13 sides is not. There’s a limited way two tiles can touch, right? So why doesn’t that lead to repeated pattern? Maybe I don’t understand what “aperiodic” means.
Anyway, it’s super cool, and I want to tile my kitchen and bathroom with them now.
More Arizona birds
Mar. 11th, 2023 09:42 amThis is the best red tailed hawk photo I've ever taken:
For non bird photographers:
Photographing birds in flight is hard. They move quickly and unpredictably, which makes keeping them in frame hard. Plus, keeping them in focus is hard because the distance keeps changing, and it's really easy for autofocus to decide the sky or trees are more important. So, getting those two right feels like a real accomplishment. Add to that the difficulty of getting the exposure right when the bottom of the bird is in shadow and the background is (typically) the sky, which is bright. Finally, a lot of flight pictures don't look like action pictures, they look... static, even though there's clearly flight going on. This looks dynamic.
click through for large images:
Some others:
Hepatic Tanager (Female. Males are red)
Pyrrhuloxia (Male, not a weird colored cardinal)
For non bird photographers:
Photographing birds in flight is hard. They move quickly and unpredictably, which makes keeping them in frame hard. Plus, keeping them in focus is hard because the distance keeps changing, and it's really easy for autofocus to decide the sky or trees are more important. So, getting those two right feels like a real accomplishment. Add to that the difficulty of getting the exposure right when the bottom of the bird is in shadow and the background is (typically) the sky, which is bright. Finally, a lot of flight pictures don't look like action pictures, they look... static, even though there's clearly flight going on. This looks dynamic.
click through for large images:
Some others:
Hepatic Tanager (Female. Males are red)
Pyrrhuloxia (Male, not a weird colored cardinal)
What am I up to?
Mar. 10th, 2023 02:30 amI've gotten sucked into the FacePlant world because the UI is easier. I have to get over that, 'cuz this is in many ways a better platform.
So, starting with pictures of birds, 'cuz that's my version of aspirational instagram life nonsense.
These are some of what I took in Arizona this trip. I'll post more. Maybe with a better format or something.
Click the images for bigger ones.
So, starting with pictures of birds, 'cuz that's my version of aspirational instagram life nonsense.
These are some of what I took in Arizona this trip. I'll post more. Maybe with a better format or something.
Click the images for bigger ones.
Acorn Woodpecker
Bridled Titmouse
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Rufous Hummingbird (immature, based on lack of throat sparkle)
Violet Crowned Hummingbird
Violet Crowned Hummingbird (immature)
Violet Crowned Hummingbird
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
We watched The Menu the other night. It's on HBO Max.
I really liked it.
It was hilarious, and horrifying, and wonderful and weird. It hinted at further mysteries, revealing just enough to satisfy without going into so much detail as to sidetrack the main thrust of the film.
It's kind of a horror movie, but not so much that Rachel didn't want to watch it.
It definitely had some "what the fuck just happened?!?" moments.
I would recommend not reading anything about the plot before watching it.
Everything you need to know (that's not a spoiler)
A high end restaurant has an exclusive tasting menu on a private island. Hijinks ensue.
Kind of inspired by Chef's Table, maybe a bit by The worst Michelin starred restaurant ever (this review is incredibly funny, and worth a read all by itself, including the followup to the rebuttal).
Photography was brilliant and sensuous (Chef's Table guy did the food photography), the kitchen work all seemed real (all the kitchen staff actors were picked because they had kitchen experience)
Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy were brilliant. Nobody sucked.
It's been a few days and the more I look back on it the more I like it.
Two thumbs up.
I really liked it.
It was hilarious, and horrifying, and wonderful and weird. It hinted at further mysteries, revealing just enough to satisfy without going into so much detail as to sidetrack the main thrust of the film.
It's kind of a horror movie, but not so much that Rachel didn't want to watch it.
It definitely had some "what the fuck just happened?!?" moments.
I would recommend not reading anything about the plot before watching it.
Everything you need to know (that's not a spoiler)
A high end restaurant has an exclusive tasting menu on a private island. Hijinks ensue.
Kind of inspired by Chef's Table, maybe a bit by The worst Michelin starred restaurant ever (this review is incredibly funny, and worth a read all by itself, including the followup to the rebuttal).
Photography was brilliant and sensuous (Chef's Table guy did the food photography), the kitchen work all seemed real (all the kitchen staff actors were picked because they had kitchen experience)
Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy were brilliant. Nobody sucked.
It's been a few days and the more I look back on it the more I like it.
Two thumbs up.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Dec. 19th, 2022 03:26 pmWe watched The Banshees of Inisherin on Saturday.
It's in some "art" theaters, but we watched it on HBO Max.
It's delightful, but baffling.
Delightful: Wonderful characters; fantastic acting; rich, lush, Vermeer-esque scenery and color and set design; great pace; dialog that's both plausible and funny and real... All things you want in a movie.
Baffling: This is a movie by and for the Irish. Martin McDonagh (the writer and director) was born in London, but his parents were Irish. Here's some important information you need to know that will make it not-baffling, but no spoilers:
And some stuff that would have helped me, but the more intuitive won't need this part.
Two "WTF?" and a "LOL"
Nov. 1st, 2021 10:56 amBut really, the two WTFs are the same. Two to demonstrate it's not a spoof:
https://lostuniverse.com/products/queens-gambit-board-game
https://www.boardgamebandit.ca/products/the-queens-gambit-the-board-game
Yes, you read that right. A board game of the movie "The Queen's Gambit", and it's not Chess.
My favorite comment from where I found this:
"This post made me say "what" so many times Samuel L. Jackson just shot me."
And a LOL: (Beth Harmon playing other games)
https://geekxgirls.com/article.php?ID=14057
https://lostuniverse.com/products/queens-gambit-board-game
https://www.boardgamebandit.ca/products/the-queens-gambit-the-board-game
Yes, you read that right. A board game of the movie "The Queen's Gambit", and it's not Chess.
My favorite comment from where I found this:
"This post made me say "what" so many times Samuel L. Jackson just shot me."
And a LOL: (Beth Harmon playing other games)
https://geekxgirls.com/article.php?ID=14057
Weird Internet shit
Aug. 12th, 2021 01:36 pmThis is the weirdest shit I've seen on The Internet in a long time.
I haven't figured out what his deal is.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwHw0B9zAL4Z08sVRRjfx5g/videos
It kinda seems modern (recent), but sometimes it seems like something resurrected from an acid trip in the ’70s that somehow made it to television (and then YouTube)
I haven't figured out what his deal is.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwHw0B9zAL4Z08sVRRjfx5g/videos
It kinda seems modern (recent), but sometimes it seems like something resurrected from an acid trip in the ’70s that somehow made it to television (and then YouTube)
(no subject)
Jun. 3rd, 2021 11:51 amThis is from a recent 9th circuit opinion. I don't know and don't care what the case was about.
Also, because it's a unanimous panel opinion, two other judges thought this was a good idea.
"ConAgra thus essentially agreed not to do something over which it lacks the power to do.
That is like George Lucas promising no more mediocre and schlocky Star Wars sequels
shortly after selling the franchise to Disney. Such a promise would be illusory.(5)"
"(5) As evident by Disney’s production of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker."
and in the same paragraph:
"In reality, this promise is about as meaningful and enduring as a proposal in the Final
Rose ceremony on the Bachelor. "
The opinion was written by a 40 something Trump appointee and joined by a 40 something Obama appointed and a 70 something senior district court judge appointed by Reagan.
Also, because it's a unanimous panel opinion, two other judges thought this was a good idea.
"ConAgra thus essentially agreed not to do something over which it lacks the power to do.
That is like George Lucas promising no more mediocre and schlocky Star Wars sequels
shortly after selling the franchise to Disney. Such a promise would be illusory.(5)"
"(5) As evident by Disney’s production of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker."
and in the same paragraph:
"In reality, this promise is about as meaningful and enduring as a proposal in the Final
Rose ceremony on the Bachelor. "
The opinion was written by a 40 something Trump appointee and joined by a 40 something Obama appointed and a 70 something senior district court judge appointed by Reagan.
