Eric J. Korpela @SETIEric@qoto.org

OK, maybe Trump can get away with shooting someone on 5th Ave., but what about a $2 million pardon bribery scheme?

Why was a scandal ignored for 28 months? And as Trump runs on a promise of 1/6 pardons, can we curb this dictatorial power?

If @willbunch wrote it, you should read it.© & I thread it. 1/...🧵

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/rudy-giuliani-selling-trump-pardons-20230521.html#loaded

Never take seriously those who ridicule low income people for having a smartphone or laptop.

“If they’re so poor how did they buy an iPhone???”

Because they’re trying to escape poverty, not the 1700s, genius. If you think basic tech access is luxury, try and survive a month without it.😐

there’s something extremely funny to me about claiming there is no such thing as reality, while using a device made of sand we convinced to do math and display pictures.

do y’all have any idea how mandatory it is to modern engineering that there is a unified reality with compressible models that can be converged on from any starting point? do y’all have any idea just how ridiculously many converging lines of evidence are behind the act of turning sand into high frequency mixed signal very large scale integrated circuits?

this shit isn’t fucking magic, it doesn’t happen because of vibes. it happens because tens of millions of engineers and technicians in a couple of dozen different disciplines understand the absolute shit out of reality. specifically, they understand the absolute shit out of a teeny tiny slice of reality, and if they weren’t all working on different slices of the exact same reality, none of this shit would ever function.

but carry on i guess. the sand that does math will keep doing it regardless of whether you believe in it.

Sometimes I think we live in bad times. Then "Operation Northwoods" pops into mind.

When you read about "Operation Northwoods" there is always a sentence "President Kennedy rejected the idea." I think this is supposed to make us feel better (?) but it has the opposite effect on me. Why would that even be on the president's desk? How did such mad men get so close to power that it was even... discussed?

I know there are other things bad, worse, but for some reason this one ... gets me.

#Garfield #music #DareToBeStupid
#bot #lyrics

“Pocket is getting a redesigned iOS app”

This is of interest to me because I am a *heavy* user of Pocket. They tell me I’m in the top 1% of their users at the end of each year so I looked forward to this redesign.

OMG

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a developer make such egregious UI decisions from one version to the next or TAKE OUT so many features that I relied on.

It’s so bad, I’m actively looking for alternatives to Pocket now.

Bravo Pocket, you asshats.

NC lawmaker’s words…- News &Observer https://apple.news/A26hgNE3uTRSejfPOTpnZRQ

“They don’t wear hoods. They are more likely to be caught praising Jesus than spouting racial epithets. In moments such as the 1 this past wk btwn McNeely &Jones on the House flr, they are even willing to sound humbled &apologize to a Black colleague they had demeaned w/a racial stereotype often deployed to put Black people back in their place. Not even Black men as accomplished as Jones can avoid such belittling.”

Justice Gorsuch calls Covid safety measures “the greatest peacetime intrusions on civil liberties in American history.”

White wealth privilege is ignoring 400 years of Native genocide, 265 years of Black slavery, & 99 years of Jim Crow—but lamenting 1 year of PTO during COVID.😑

Recently I posted that some libraries in southern Oregon were under attack. Racist, bigoted fascists were trying to infiltrate their Board so they could ban books.

Well, the voters have spoken. Our candidates—kind people with integrity—won the election. They won!

Small elections are huge. They mean so very much. Just wanted to share, because these victories have been few and far between.

https://votelibrary.com/we-won/

#Fascism #Elections #Libraries #Library #Oregon #Voting #LGBTQ #SystemicRacism

Imagine if there had been $2M available to help the mentally ill homeless instead...

https://www.nysun.com/article/donations-top-2-million-for-marine-charged-with-manslaughter-in-death-of-mentally-ill-homeless-man-on-nyc-subway?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%5BTRENDING%5D+Donations+Top+%242M+For+Marine+Charged+With+NYC+Subway+Death&utm_campaign=SALES+-+Trending+Now+-+5%2F19%2F23

A bright supernova just popped off in nearby galaxy M101! Not naked-eye bright, but should be visible through a decent amateur telescope.
M101 is about 21 million light years away, so this signal has been on its way to Earth for a looong time.
https://www.wis-tns.org/object/2023ixf/discovery-cert #Supernova #M101 #Astrodon

A light switch is also a dark switch.

My week in tweets and memes is up on my page. Have a great weekend! https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-week-in-tweets-and-memes-388?sd=pf

Sorry, Sulzberger—NYT’s Anti-Trans ‘News’ Is Neither True Nor Important

Critics aren't asking the New York Times to "skew" or "censor" its trans-related coverage. We're asking the Times to stop skewing it.

https://fair.org/home/sorry-sulzberger-nyts-anti-trans-news-is-neither-true-nor-important/

#CJR #LGBTQ #NewYorkTimes #Objectivity

The Republicans' propaganda campaign to convince Americans that paying bills we've already incurred should depend on cutting social programs has worked. https://apnews.com/article/debt-ceiling-deficit-biden-taxes-mccarthy-poll-5411d1772c8e1c26acc187850999cb8e

One reason is the totally incompetent job the Democrats, led by the Biden administration, have done in explaining what the Republicans' campaign is nothing but extortion and economic sabotage.

Another reason, as usual, is crappy journalism that uncritically amplifies the Republican BS.

Hospitals in Two States Denied an #Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient.

Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.
==

#Doctors told Mylissa she might die but she couldn’t have an abortion under state law until she got sicker.

The Biden administration says failing to act violates a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care.

#Pregnancy #Missouri #Kansas #Health #HealthCare #Hospitals #Patients #Emergency #EmergencyRoom

https://www.propublica.org/article/two-hospitals-denied-abortion-miscarrying-patient-breaking-federal-law?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

"Overreaching or just rank authoritarianism? "

The internet let out a collective sigh of relief after yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, which avoided undermining an important online speech law. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/internet-dodges-censorship-supreme-court