I'm happy to hear about the growing public outrage anyway. It's about time. And if these kidnappers realize they are widely despised, the bonuses won't be enough. Then again, they wouldn't be wearing masks if they thought people liked them.
Computer scientist with a bunch of weird hobbies. I have mostly been linking news and making political comments. I plan to post more 3D print models and other math crafts when I can. "When the world falls apart, some things stay in place."
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I'm happy to hear about the growing public outrage anyway. It's about time. And if these kidnappers realize they are widely despised, the bonuses won't be enough. Then again, they wouldn't be wearing masks if they thought people liked them.
Because encouraging kids to exercise is exactly the same thing as prohibiting vaccines and presenting unpasteurized milk as a healthy alternative to milk that's safe to drink.
Another simulated woodgrain Penrose tiling. With photos clipped in Inkscape. #penrose #penrosetiling #inkscape #art #wood #tiles
Yes, I've heard he's a great fan of golden fountains.
That may be the intend effect, but it feels more Las Vegas to me at best, or more like a display case full of shiny plastic participation trophies. His plan to build government offices in Greek and Roman style will surely have the same feel if God forbid it comes to pass.
"Remigration?" I assume that means anyone whose ancestors arrived more recently than the crossing of the Bering Strait get the fuck out of here and go back to their home country. (Hey, I have my Irish dual citizenship in hand already, and it is tempting.)
... are going full bore with this myth, and I don't know if it's the influence of puppy-killer Kristi Noem or something more intentionally white nationalist. The creepiest thing is they remind me of a middle school project my son did where he was supposed to make a fascist propaganda poster.
One thing I find super-disturbing, though, is the "Manifest Destiny" inspired kitsch coming out of DHS with pictures of Conestoga wagons that account for a tiny minority of (exclusively white) Americans, the vast majority of whom did not "settle" the frontier but lived in towns and cities. ...
White supremacists are out of touch with real American culture, which is obviously multiracial not something than can be changed top down, whether it's food, fashion, or language. "Remigration" won't change it either. I suppose genocide could do it, so they might as well stop mincing words.
"The Times is committed to publishing ..." as many rightwing nutjobs as we can fit to print. This proves that we are a very fair and serious organization, not like one of those rags that take a side on important issues.
Oops. Actually, I think India still has a ways to go before catching up on industry (as opposed to IT). Maybe I haven't been paying attention to more recent advances. Honestly, though if the choice is between Xi and Modi, I don't have a strong preference.
They're a bunch of sadists, and they really believe that non-white people are subhuman. They will rarely put it that way, but it comes out in "jokes" and in action.
I think what the Democratic establishment "assumes" is that they, not voters, are entitled to select the candidate, even when it is someone as corrupt, uncharismatic, and unimaginative as Mario Cuomo's nepo-baby. So yes, they are blindsided by genuinely exciting candidates like Mamdani.
"They assume that Mr. Mamdani’s unorthodox policy ideas and personal flaws are so self-evidently disqualifying that voters will reject him if they keep hearing how bad he is." What personal flaws? Practical politics will for unrealistic policy plans. Mamdani is aiming high, as he should.
Some Joe Hill on Labor Day "Working folk of all countries unite Side by side we for freedom will fight When the world and its wealth we have gained To the grafters we'll sing this refrain You will eat bye and bye When you've learned how to cook and how to fry Chop some wood, 'twill do you good..."
As for demons. Man, I'm getting old, but anyone remember Flip Wilson? "The devil made me do it." In the 70s, this was comedy. Today, it is a "serious" view promoted by televangelists, Christian nationalists, and even billionaires like Peter Thiel. How far we have sunk as a nation.
I was raised Catholic but I have no patience for anyone who presents an afterlife as a solution to any problem, whether it's school shootings, childhood cancer, poverty, etc. The point isn't whether it exists (it doesn't) but that it just "solves" everything. Engage your mind on what you can change
The conspiracy of Trump and RFK Jr. to kill us all is based on the fact that they both adhere to crackpot views on healthcare with utter disregard for public safety. It's not that hard to translate NYT. The story is there, rewritten as weaselly as possible. It's still not a bad source for facts.
I'd get off the lawn if he yelled at me.
"An analogy I often use is we’re like someone who has a tiger cub as a pet. A tiger cub is a really cute pet, but when it grows up, you have to be sure – when it’s stronger than you – you have to be sure that it won’t want to kill you." (paywall)
Soylent Green is Sea Monkeys! It's Sea Monkeys! #brineshrimp #aquaculture #scmp
I agree that "Silicon Valley culture" is unoriginal, annoying, and filled with superrich crybabies who think they're oppressed if they aren't the center of attention. That said, I have lived and worked here for over 25 years. Most of us aren't like that. I hate how the rest of the world sees us.
I do know that Noem is either lying or an idiot. OK, both.
I wouldn't have phrased it that way, and in general it is counterproductive to adopt the language of an opponent to point out (obvious) hypocrisy. On balance, I thought it was a decent opinion column, at least unambiguous on the point that vaccines are safe and effective (low bar I know)
“Everyone dresses the same, they drive the same cars, they listen to the same podcasts, they claim to read the same books, ... this extraordinary herd behavior and everyone thinks they’re being super insightful, but in fact everybody’s kind of following the same trend.”
I know exactly how I felt when Biden won: this buys some time, but doesn't really fix anything. I believe this feeling has been borne out.
A point I tried to make in 2016, mostly to Sanders supporters, is that he and Clinton would have identical jobs: vetoing all the crap coming out of the GOP congress. I never understood what we were fighting about. So yes, obviously it makes a difference to have the president even without congress.
The Guardian did a better job I think. Of course, they don't have the same pressures NYT presumably has. I'm glad they do so much reporting on the US because it's hard to find a source as good. NYT is actually not bad if you de-weasel it in your head, but that shouldn't be necessary.
Considering that Trump is himself a convicted felon residing in the White House, I would say that nearly anyone can "one up" Trump on crime without breaking a sweat. I know I seem to be "missing the point" but really, this is something that cannot be repeated enough.
With Giuliani, it's usually batshit.
I don't want to disturb his convalescence but maybe someone should gently explain to him that he has not been mayor in over 20 years, and indeed is no longer even permitted to practice as a lawyer.
I missed that these were Miller's own words. Yikes. It fits though. His only actual skill (and he's good at it) is that he has honed trolling to such an artform that you can't tell if he's serious or sarcastic. It literally does not matter to him. I doubt he even gets along with RFK Jr.
Expanding my Penrose kite and dart tabletop. This is slower to make in Inkscape than most of my tilings where I just repeat the same shapes. I have a number of distinct tiles and place them randomly so duplicates aren't obvious. Yes, I could script it. #penrose #penrosetiling #inkscape #wood
🤣🤣🤣Burning Man went from something my cool (not superrich) friends did in 2000, towing their own sculpture there to display, to a playground for rich assholes to shit all over. It was never something I did either way, but sure, maybe this is where Thiel's antichrist will emerge. Grab the popcorn.
One of the things that still catches me on Inkscape despite using this version of it for well over a year. To rotate it by 36 degrees, click apply. I know that. But if I am distracted, I go for that little rotating arrow icon. That doesn't rotate. It clears the angle back to 0. #inkscape #peeves
It could happen. But either way, the world needs to know he's a crackpot and his policies are going to kill people.
What strikes a nerve with me (and this isn't new with Trump) is the rights of the accused: 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th amendments. A huge part of the Bill of Rights with palpable importance to the framers. Also, Trump is attacking them. But many Americans believe they only apply to criminals, and don't care.
Like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. It's a plan. What gets me about Cracker Barrel is I only remember them as the restaurant that lost a lawsuit for racism towards customers and employees. I don't have a dog in that fight. Likewise Bud Light, mass-produced swill beer. Boycott all you want.
... Take the 4th amendment. Everyone, even if they don't remember from school, understands from cop shows. "Where's your warrant?" But their inner fascist says "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear." That's what they really believe and why they cheer the TV cop who plants evidence.
I agree that's a good start. It also has salience to voters, which I don't see in your list. Some things are easy to understand, like birthright citizenship, but some people don't want it. Maybe they're inherent racist. Maybe they've been poisoned with stories about "anchor babies." ...
I'm not sure the hypothetical makes sense. No Democratic administration has ever made up unconstitutional shit that the NYT has to make excuses for. But yeah, they would report it differently. But they would be face with a different reaction as well, being praised for not toeing the line.
It might be easier to speculate on how far he'd have to go to get 5 justices to stop him. That's also a shifting window. Birthright citizenship ought to be a completely safe from attack, but this incarnation of SCOTUS just has to say the word to empower Trump, and I am not confident.
Not only that, Stephen Miller will publicly declare you one of the world's foremost experts in public health.
Hold my beer and hand me a sharpie. How about the part that says "Or when Trump says so"?
I'm not sure which view is the more cynical, let alone which is true. There is indeed concentration of media ownership. I remember hearing this from Mark Crispin Miller 30 years ago (though he has gone off the deep end since). But what if most journalists are actually just cowards too?
Yes, RFK Jr's theory of "making America healthy" is let disease thin out the herd. If you think I'm making a sick joke, this was precisely his proposal for avian flu. Just let it spread and keep the chickens that survive. It doesn't work, BTW, besides being unethical. We will all be sicker for it.
I wondered why I get attention when I post an NYT gift link but forget to say so. Are people doing searches on unlocked_article_code? I noticed somewhat to my surprise that it turns up a lot of NYT gift articles.
... hit the ground a lot sooner. You dust yourself off (if you're an uber-nerd) adjust your cracked wireframe glasses and explain: "Yes, but that's in the presence of friction." At this point you've lost your audience already. Editors either remember being the nerd or being in the audience.
... it's a lot like being bullied in a schoolyard. Let's say you try to point out something true but that your classmates don't know: objects fall at the same acceleration independent of mass. So the school bully drops you and a feather from 5 feet up, showing to the amusement of all that you ...
I think that "respectable" media outlets are often more afraid of being laughed at than they are of being on the wrong side of history. If they point out that the constitution is explicit about who regulates elections and it ain't POTUS, but then Trump does it anyway, they will feel like fools ...
Since the constitution explicitly gives the power to the states and to congress, it very nearly "explicitly" withholds it from the president.
Three justices owe their jobs to him. Two were far right cranks to begin with. Chief Justice Roberts probably thinks he'll look like a twit if he dissents from the majority too often. So the "doctrine" is give Trump whatever the hell he wants.
All the views that's fit to hedge. I can't tell if it's just how the NYT weasels think, or if they are afraid of being shut down in some unusually assertive exercise of executive authority that was never made explicit in Article II.
Indeed. I thought we were only going to war with Greenland and Canada.
I consider "former heroin addict" (brain worm aside) instantly disqualifying for a cabinet level position. I don't see how it's even a question. Some addicts might reform and do other things well, but there is no right to run a department affecting so many lives.
I never hated Hillary Clinton. I wasn't a superfan, but she seemed totally normal to me, and quite intelligent and informed.
Honestly, I never understand how people voted for Trump because of Gaza. I suppose it succeeded as a big fuck you to the Democratic establishment, but anyone with two brain cells to rub together could figure out that it wasn't going to help Palestinians.
One more thing. Sometimes LLMs are good at summarizing points. I am going with this capsule summary from ChatGPT: "People do differ in ability, but when we see group-level disparities, those are far more likely to be evidence of systemic inequality than proof of innate hierarchy."
Pedantic points aside, I think where I might disagree is in the actual power to engineer this. Clearly, we should be making a good faith effort to attempt to. Equally, clearly, the present government is not doing so. "Equal opportunity" is redefined as a cudgel to justify maintaining bias.
If the question, rather, is who can get favorable terms on a mortgage (opportunity) and if outcome is measured narrowly, i.e. by interest rate and growth in equity, then one might expect both equal opportunity and equal outcome. I assume this is more to the point and I took your post out of context.
In that case, we're unlikely to achieve either equal opportunity or equal outcome. Some outsiders will get opportunities and do well in their own right. But all the things society can provide are unlikely to match growing up in that environment (in my opinion). ...
In some cases, it's pretty obvious. Many actors are dismissed as "nepo babies" but this is a little silly if the child of a successful actor excels in their art. It's unlikely they are innately better, but they grew up, effectively, in a family business and learned a trade from an early age ...
... typically on the right, people want to jump to the idea that there's an innate difference in merit between these groups, while on the left, there's a tendency to deny any possibility of this. I am leftwing and I do tend to think unequal outcomes are more likely a sign of unequal opportunity ...
Well, I am not trying to be pedantic, just hoping to understand your position. I agree that outcomes should be independent of criteria that are traditionally used to bias opportunity. If outcomes vary significantly between demographic groups, it's reasonably to infer that the opportunities differ...
... as one of the most brilliant mathematicians who ever lived. But at the same time, I have an opportunity to do some interesting work in adjacent fields, and I am satisfied with that. We want satisfactory outcomes, and some inequality is inevitable.
I'm not sure we want equality of outcome. What we want is an outcome that is in keeping with each individual's pursuit of happiness (within limits, because nobody should be a billionaire).E.g., I doubt that any set of opportunities could have turned me into John von Neumann, generally recognized ...
More simulated woodworking. I took photos of floor planks and clipped them in Inkscape with Penrose kite and dart tiles. The kites all use one plank and the darts all used another, aligning grain. I reuse some of the tiles here but they are not all the same. #penrose #penrosetiling #inkscape #wood
I'm not sure he's the most dangerous, but I can see the argument in terms of total lives lost. I think repairing our health infrastructure could be more straightforward than bringing back due process. I'm half persuaded. Was Lysenko the most dangerous part of Stalinism in terms of lives lost? Maybe
... I mean I doubt he has the slightest respect for RFK Jr. I was wondering just the other day if they even get along. Most people would just say RFK Jr. is HHS secretary so don't ask me. Miller is really taking it a notch up by acting like RFK Jr. is an expert on anything besides eating roadkill.
The thing about Miller is he's such an accomplished troll, he can call RFK Jr. one of the foremost experts in public health without cracking up. I mean, that's his whole schtick, really, stating the opposite of reality with a straight face. It works for ICE "We're not the kidnappers. They are!" ...
There are now repeated reports of agents disguising their identity, using racial profiling, arresting citizens, arresting permanent residents, and responding abusively to anyone who questions them. Our rogue government isn't going to stop it. The media reports but rarely judges. When does it end?
The astounding part isn't that individual agents will do whatever they're told to. While ICE is not a military organization, look at the abuses at Abu Graib. Soldiers committed war crimes because they were ordered to. What's unacceptable is that our society didn't slam down the brakes. ...
"It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but vaccines are safe and effective. That, of course, is not just my view. Far more important, it is the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities."
Penrose kaleidoscope. Original photos of my hardwood floor, clipped to triangles with mirror images and assembled symmetrically into a Penrose kite and dart tiling. I did most of this in Inkscape. I may try this with less repetition to look more like real wood. #penrose #penrosetiling #inkscape
Weasels: "In addition, decisions are being made with a particular focus on our values and special consideration for the potential harms that negative federal enforcement actions could cause ..." How about: We cannot function with federal interference. If necessary, we will cease operations.
I don't know anything about the school, but the story fits my impression. Students and faculty aren't the ones capitulating. It's the board of trustees. There is still a consensus that diversity, equity, and inclusion are important values. I reject the idea that "DEI went too far." It's a backlash.
Local control. Isn't that what Republicans used to say they supported? #ice #massdeportation #fascism
"The DU Administration has decided to prioritize the anti-DEI initiatives of the federal administration over its own morals, over its own progress as an institution, and over its own students’ needs. Not only did our institution fail to meet with students before rolling back these initiatives ..."
Wow!
I'm surprised nobody has brought up the Milgram experiment yet. I had to look up the name and it's not something I know in detail. The take-away is that most people will follow authority in context. They might be used to having a republic but will obey any government with the trappings of legitimacy
"Become" or were many people always like this? Nobody had to stand up for democracy because it didn't appear to be threatened the way it is now.
I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people never really thought it was important to have a constitutional republic, and that includes those who understand the details a lot better than I do. They will follow whatever system they can use to advance their status. I'm sure DC is filled with them.
I agree. Vance wouldn't be anywhere without the enthusiastic support of the establishment he either wants to control or destroy. There's nothing to him except ambition, an authoritarian streak, and an ability to tell lies with confidence.
Has Vance even show "gratitude" to the gullible, allegedly liberal media that put him in the spotlight with his annoying memoir? The only reason Hillbilly Elegy became a bestseller is because liberals wanted to prove they could care about a white guy from a red state.
Sue their asses. That *is* the American way. ICE is an un-American state funded hate group. #ice #massdeportation #trump #fascism
I will always remember "General Lee" as the name of dog in Morrie Turner's Wee Pals comic strip. I'm sure that's the first place I saw the phrase. Also, there's the car in Dukes of Hazzard. I have no idea why we're suppose to honor traitors. I grew up in the north FFS.
You have to follow your passion, so I am not criticizing. I just wish we lived in times where I didn't have to care. I think many of us who are not politicians can see their blind spots. It's just a different worldview. Vaguely apropos, my favorite GH Hardy quote.
That tracks. They have to be experts at something, right? I admit I am mystified by people who get into politics because they like it. I follow news because my life and my family's life may literally depend on it. But I'd rather be doing math, art, hiking, creative writing, nearly anything else.
... he didn't live to see it happen, but I think he had accurate intuition. It is just delayed by a few years. I would describe his politics as loyal Democrat, but not especially progressive, and I imagine at least some of his colleagues leaned on the Trump side.
One of my older brothers was a civilian in naval intelligence (he got there by a rather circuitous career path). He's sadly deceased for unrelated reasons, but around the 2020 election was absolutely certain we were headed for civil war. I don't think Jan. 6 would have surprised him. ....
Trump is rapidly moving from "Yes, you voted for this whether you want to admit it or not." (e.g. ICE abuses) to "Who the fuck voted for this?" I did not have an invasion of Venezuela on my bingo card.
"When people fight principled battles that they know they may lose, others pay attention."
Nothing to add to this. I recently turned 60 and have never seen anything like this in the US, nor would I have believed it. I am sure it is true of those older as well. #trump #fascism #ice #massdeportation
It would be more interesting to generalize the kind of candidate they'd support. Trump is far from unique. A question that isn't answered here, which seems more interesting to me is why now? There have always been assholes, and always people like Trump. What changed to get us to this sorry state?
A gag order is a no brainer, though it cannot undo the sheer preponderance of prejudicial statements they've made already. #ice #massdeportation #abrego #kilmarabregogarcia
I used to walk past this equestrian atrocity when I was a grad student at Johns Hopkins. That was over 30 years ago, and I vividly remember drunkenly cursing these racist traitors one fine evening coming back from a bar with friends. Thank God they are gone from Baltimore, I hope never to return.
Trump is dead set on erasing every gain from Black Lives Matter. I mean he's also erasing everything from the Civil Rights Movement on, but he's particularly adamant in stamping out the recent memory of a national consensus in the wake of George Floyd's murder. DC sucked up to him, for what?
... like a bubble that forms and floats, and pops. I am small compared to humanity, which is infinitesimal compared to reality. In my brief existence, I hope to do some good or at least little harm. I do not understand those who consider the accident of their existence to be of paramount importance.
The first time our nation was insulted by Trump's so-called presidency, I looked up in the sky at night. First at the moon. He probably can't wreck that, but shit he could try. Mars too, just barely. Beyond that, it is all untouchable by these ugly, disgusting people. I enjoy my brief existence ...
Another happy thought. This planet could go *poof* and the rest of the universe would not miss us. Forget about space. Consider time. Many of our essential elements (e.g. heavier ones like iodine) are produced in supernovae. We are literally formed of the detritus of a much more ancient universe.