George Budd @Gbudd@qoto.org

Apropos everything, I’m reminded of this from Douglas Adams:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.

2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this — which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never — the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.

James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time
#literature #blackwriters #blackliterature

I am white, and was raised in small mostly white communities when I was young, but moved to a larger city as a young teenager. Like a lot of white kids, I didn't understand how much of a thing casual everyday racism was, until I met my future best friend Cameron. I'd never been pulled over by the cops before, and now suddenly I was getting pulled over frequently, for no reason at all, the only difference was now there was a black man in the car. I remember the first time getting pulled over, and the cop asking for all of our ID's with no explanation at all, Cam saw me about to mouth off, and the look of terror on his face made me shut up immediately. Later, he told me when it happened again to just comply, don't ask questions, don't get angry. I had never had to view cops with fear before, in my mind, you only needed to be afraid if you were a criminal, but Cam was afraid, just for existing as black. If people try to tell you that black people are dramatizing their struggle, they are lying!

The Adverts

accidentally wrote "saad" instead of "saas" in a text to my partner; they immediately coined "Software as a Disappointment"

and honestly, where is the lie

In the latest issue of my "Our Land" newsletter, I examine the pressing issue of Warren Zevon’s possible induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Plus, how the Myanmar tragedy has disappeared in the media.

Also in this issue, a most moving episode of HBO's “The Last of Us” that you should watch, even if you can’t stand zombie TV. Kudos to Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett.

Please read/RT: http://link.motherjones.com/public/30473014

Sign up for a FREE trial subscription at http://davidcorn.com

Why does 0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004? https://jvns.ca/blog/2023/02/08/why-does-0-1-plus-0-2-equal-0-30000000000000004/

A counter argument #cats #funny #meme

How an African American woman helped invent GPS. Absolutely fascinating. “GPS Only Exists Because Of Two People: Albert Einstein And Gladys West.”

https://hiddenheroes.netguru.com/gladys-west

Know what the absence of racism would look like for Black folks?

Ordinary-ness.

Just life.
Ordinary life.

I think we deserve that.

Don't you?

#BHM
#AntiRacism

Elijah McCoy was born in 1844 in Ontario to formerly-enslaved parents from Kentucky. They saved enough to send him to Scotland to study mechanical #engineering. When he returned and couldn't get work in his field, he took a job as a train oilman and invented a method of automatic lubrication that eliminated the frequent stops trains had to make to oil up axles & bearings. Railroad companies asking for his product rather than copycat devices spawned the phrase "the real McCoy." #BlackHistoryMonth

Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !

You know the drill by now. I don't like talking about Black history. Americans know Black history. I want to talk about white American history. In other words, racism, and the erasure of both positive achievements of, and injustices suffered by, non-white people. That's what people don't know.

Try this: Ask your white US friends what the statue of liberty celebrates.

Now ask your Black friends. Or French folk of any color.

#BlackMastodon

"Can you explain this gap in your resume?"

"Yes, I used LaTeX and couldn't fix that bit"

#caturday

The cat is not stuck.

Why do old fogey Sys Admins like me get twitchy when they see cron jobs scheduled to run between 2am and 3am? Why do modern Sys Admins not care?

#Linux #DFIR #CommandLine #Trivia

Step 1 - Open the Terminal app on your Linux, macOS, Unix, BSD, WLS, or Android

Step 2 - Type `curl wttr.in` OR `curl wttr.in/lon` (replace LON with your city's code)

Step 3 - Enjoy an excellent weather report from the CLI.

Photo: A blank white billboard on some derelict buildings in Dublin City. Someone has painted the text "Fáilte roimh theifigh"* on the billboard in black.

*"Refugees welcome"