Nordstahl @Nordstahl@qoto.org

Poverty is a policy choice. Mass incarceration is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. Insulin rationing is a policy choice. Climate disintegration is a policy choice. Billionaire tax loopholes are a policy choice.

Make no mistake: We have the power to change things.

Elon Musk – Dead at 52 – Says There Is No Need for Misinformation Laws
https://theshovel.com.au/2024/04/23/elon-musk-dead-at-52-misinformation-laws/

This was really early Sat + this little one needs to be fed every 2hrs which takes about an hour so we were both crazy sleepy leading to:

a. Ramone basically sleep drinking

b. Me calling “Pedialyte” “Prilosec” I don’t use either, but my TV/radio consumption is mostly news, whose ads target an older demographic meaning I hear ads for heartburn, arthritis, ED, heart disease; guess it crept into my subconscious vocab.

Also this was right before I could tell she was a he.

#BabySquirrel #squirrel

Reflecting on Columbine, 25 years later, a survivor writes: "When a door plug falls off a plane, we ground hundreds of planes and investigate. When it’s believed a car battery might cause a fire, millions of vehicles are recalled. When a batch of lettuce isn’t processed properly, we remove it from the shelves and the FDA posts a warning. We regulate, investigate and set up systems and protocols for safety in this country for nearly everything — except guns. We’ve set up a national hotline for suicide prevention, but nothing exists to report suspected would-be mass murderers. Why? Why do we refuse to do better?
If we’d taken mass shootings seriously 25 years ago, how many children would be alive today? How many families’ loved ones? How much blood has to be spilled before it’s enough? Will our collective empathy ever kick in?

I am doubtful."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/columbine-school-shootings-anniversary_n_6611798be4b0d81853f96577

#CatsOfMastodon

You might think that even in today’s highly polarized election environment there would be a bipartisan consensus to protect election workers from intimidation and harassment. If you thought so, you would be wrong.

My latest.
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/republicans-are-suing-for-the-right-to-harass-election-workers/

The chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner (Republican), believes that Russian propaganda has penetrated the walls of the US legislature, as members of US Congress are spreading false information about the Russian war.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4579289-intel-chair-turner-absolutely-true-russia-propaganda-infected-us-congress/

"Study after study says it: Right-wing policies and rhetoric lead to more homicides and suicides. Why don’t more people know this?" https://newrepublic.com/article/180829/conservative-policies-rhetoric-kill-people

Israel still has no proof of Unrwa terrorist claims – but damage to aid agency is done

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/israeli-allegations-of-unrwa-staff-links-to-terrorism-cost-aid-agency-dearly

Student midterm exams this week. While they work, I get to read scifi novels in class.

Considering I lose several hours making, updating, or printing the test and then also spend even more time grading their work, it seems like a fair compromise.

I am really enjoying Linda Nagata's Inverse Frontier series.

#bookstodon #scifi #esl #Korea #teaching

NASA successfully debugged a 46-year-old computer that has a latency of nearly two full days. That is truly awesome.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/04/22/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth/

@jeffjarvis without TARGETED ads is not “for free”. They can still have ads, they just can't track folks.

Superb photobomb! From my collection, no date or other info known.

🥥 Meet some of the people who are donating $800,000 or more to the Trump 2024 campaign.
It's such a collection of soulless losers that you'll be asking yourself if there's a more wretched hive of scum and villainy anywhere in the universe.
https://popular.info/p/meet-the-people-spending-800000-or
🥥
#TrumpDonors, #TrumpTrials, #TrumpCampaign, #TaxTheWealthy, #EatTheRich, #2024Election. #TuckersBalls

Jury acquits Umar Zameer as judge gives rare apology: 'Deepest apologies for what you have been through' - thestar.com

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/jury-acquits-umar-zameer-as-judge-gives-rare-apology-deepest-apologies-for-what-you-have/article_c3e7f3a4-fd82-11ee-842f-4bc5df275cd5.html

> Jurors found the 34-year-old accountant not guilty of all charges in the death of Const. Jeffrey Northrup.

Police Chief Myron Demkiw said:
“I share the feelings of our members who were hoping for a different outcome,”

Let that sink in. The chief of police hoped for an innocent man to be convicted of murder on police testimony proven to be lies.

"Justice Anne Molloy, too, expressed serious concerns with the evidence the Crown was putting before the jury — including police witnesses who were contradicted by video evidence and the Crown’s own expert."

A mass grave with 283 Palestinian bodies were found in at Nasser Hospital today.

A mass bombing killed at least 14 Palestinian children yesterday.

Columbia faculty is standing in solidarity with Palestinian & Jewish students who oppose the above war crimes.

And legacy media is largely ignoring it.

Do not stay silent. Continue to raise your voices for justice and accountability.

Now, NYU and The New School have encampments. GO KIDS, GO!

As its #EarthDay I've put up the Barn Owl box on the byre roof. It's just high enough, I couldn't safely go any higher. It faces west but I'm hoping it won't get too much sun. (Sun! Up here?) Painting it white should help. That's also Raby Estates colour to blend in with the house. Here's hoping it gets a tenant.

Trump is so diminished in court he reveals that he's no alpha male--he more an Alfalpha male.

#DonaldTrump #AlfalphaMale #DonTheCon #DonSnoreleone