David Rasmussen, aka Rasamoto @Bertrecords@qoto.org

The JWST costs 0.4% as much as the US military, and the pictures we get from it are inspiring and informative rather than horrifying.

Cedar Waxwing is happy just being a Cedar Waxwing

Every reporter in America should stop what they're doing, read, and absorb the importance of what Will Bunch says here. We are one election away from a fascist state ruled by a career mobster with a sadistic craving for revenge. That's what's at stake in 2024! https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/journalism-free-press-gaza-extremism-20231105.html

Gag orders are back in the news with a decision by Judge Tanya Chutkan to reimpose the gag order she had lifted temporarily pending appeal. I explain what’s going on, what the arguments are, and most importantly what the stakes are, in today’s piece. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/whats-up-with-the-gag-orders?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Old punk rock photos in color, re-edited by the photographer himself

Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton
Husker Du at the Vic Theater in Chicago Illinois, October 10, 1987.

Photo by Paul Natkin

#punk #punks #punkrock #huskerdu #hüskerdü #history #punkrockhistory

The EU is pissed at Musk.

Do you think next year Trump Tower will be a Spirit Halloween?

Daily Inspiration: "Move fast and fix things" - Futurist Jim Carroll

(Unity apologizes)

Steve Ballmer, the VP of Microsoft who was the driving force next to Bill Gates in the early rapid rise of the organization, understood the critical importance of "developers." Most modern-day software and tech company CEOs do not - in particular, folks like Elon Musk.

The president of gaming engine Unity Create, Marc Whitten, certainly does. His recent sincere apology and response to a self-imposed developer crisis give a textbook example of how to deal with an egregious mistake once your customers let you know - in no harsh terms - that you were completely wrong with your actions.

It offers an example that when you break things, you've got to move fast to fix things because we live in a world in which egregious mistakes can suddenly spiral out of control. We now live in a future in which you no longer fully own your future - your customers or external business partners do.

Developers matter. So does respect.

https://jimcarroll.com/2023/09/daily-inspiration-customer-support-and-crisis-management-move-fast-and-fix-things/

Trump recently posted that America's top general should be put to death ...

... and it barely registered in daily news media

This, as Brian Klaas -- a scholar of political violence -- is truly bad. It's obviously horrific to have a leading presidential candidate, and former president, so nakedly endorse violence against top government figures ...

... but what's worse is growing *numb* to that

Klaas' essay: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/

Metaphors, moral systems and the politics of the brain play a big role in how we analyze the world at FrameLab. As our list of readers has grown over the past year, it occurs to us that not everyone is equally familiar with these concepts. And for others, a refresher is sometimes helpful. Read more here: https://framelab.substack.com/p/framing-101-metaphors-moral-systems

After 7 months of development, the Mastodon 4.2.0 update has been released and is available today for all Mastodon server operators to install. It is designed to make it easier for users to get started, use the network even when logged out, and search for content across the platform. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/09/mastodon-4.2/
#mastodon #update #fediverse #socialmedia #opensource

Love the new "thread" view on Mastodon 4.2. Makes it so much easier to follow conversations. #Mastodon #update #MastodonUpdate

I met Ray Manzarek of The Doors about 10 or 15 years ago. Had a photo taken with him—will have to dig it up. Ray was a cool fella. I always thought that he was the brains behind The Doors. John Densmore is cool, too. Anyone who champions reading will always be cool in my book.👍🏿

#TheDoors #music #Mastodon #BlackMastodon

It's rare to hear this from them, and so it is quite welcome.

https://secondnexus.com/ken-buck-praises-merrick-garland?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

Unbelievable, the expected CDC "guidance" says that N95's are no better than surgical masks despite the numerous studies that show N95's show a large decrease in infectious disease spread.

If you had any doubts b4 about the CDC becoming a political tool...

Expected CDC guidance on N95 masks outrages health care workers

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/expected-cdc-guidance-n95-masks-outrages-health-care-workers-rcna104854#

#Covid19 #PublicHealth #CDC #CovidIsNotOver

In memory of Grant Vernon Hart, drummer and co-songwriter of the alternative rock and hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü, who died on this day in 2017 from complications of liver cancer and hepatitis

#punk #punks #punkrock #granthart #hüskerdü #huskerdu #history #punkrockhistory #otd

Alabama decided to try it, and the federal panel isn’t pleased. Like, at all. How the state tried to thumb its nose at a SCOTUS voting rights opinion, and how that’s likely to go, in today’s piece. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/an-alabama-slammer?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

So, I'm just going to be sure I have this straight.

Back in 2019-2020, when #covid19 first burst onto the scene, nobody had any idea what we were dealing with. Out of an abundance of caution people were urged to stay at home, and keep away from other people.

In the almost-four years since then, we have learned exactly what we are dealing with - a disease never dealt with before on this level, that attacks and destroys multiple systems of the body, leaves many people disabled/bedridden, or with any of a huge number of chronic conditions.

It attacks the heart and brains of everyone infected (to varying degrees), and confers no long lasting immunity against future infections (which tend to get worse each time).

But with all that knowledge, we've now dropped any semblance of protection, and actively discourage masking, isolation and cleaning the air.

... Do I have this right?

Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of all freedom. But not all speech is the same, and not all speech qualifies as “free speech.”

As the indictments pile up against Trump and his co-conspirators for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, we have seen a concerted effort by Trump to claim a ridiculous defense based on “freedom of speech.”

Free speech, according to his cockamamie theory, means he can say whatever he wants to say, regardless of the consequences. He falsely equates his leadership of the criminal conspiracy to destroy American democracy with the act of having a mere opinion or belief.

This defense is unlikely to hold up in a court of law — and it doesn’t hold up in the field of cognitive linguistics, either. Cognitive linguists have long understood that there are different kinds of speech, and that some kinds of speech constitute “speech acts.”

More at FrameLab:
https://framelab.substack.com/p/trumps-criminal-speech-acts-vs-free

⚾ #MLB #Baseball @baseball@a.gup.pe @baseball@chirp.social

Via Jay Cuda @JayCuda
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Division leaders on the 28th of each month this season