c/Superbowl

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • I would probably be a bit more excited if it didn’t start coming out during a time of widespread disinformation and anti-intellectualism.

    I just come here to share animal facts and similar things, and the amount of reasonably realistic AI images and poorly compiled “fact sheets”, and recently also passable videos of non-real animals is very disappointing. It waters down basic facts as it blends in to more and more things.

    Stuff like that is the lowest level of bad in the grand scheme of things. I don’t even like to think of the intentionally malicious ways we’ll see it be used. It’s a going to be the robocaller of the future, but not just spamming our landlines, but everything. I think I could live without it.





  • As someone who basically knows nothing about this but what is in the article, the Maori sound like they have the right idea to me.

    The Maori version of the original treaty seems very generous and would make sense to most people how it was written. How anyone would believe the British version was legitimate unless it was signed under coercion or misrepresentation makes zero sense.

    Despite the bill being highly likely to fail, many believe that just by allowing the bill to be tabled in Parliament, the coalition government has ignited dangerous social division.

    That they are protesting even though the new bill is unlikely to pass seems very smart, given what is going on in other parts of the world and how manipulation by governments works in history. By entertaining it as any form of reasonable proposal, it gives it credence, no matter how small, and each time it is suggested, it will be normalized a bit more, and they will pick up another supporter here and there until they can pass it.



  • I don’t recall how I heard about For All Mankind, and I never see it mentioned very much, but I have had such a great time watching that.

    It’s an alternate history of the space race from the 60s onward, and it’s so exciting to watch what could have been. Each season jumps forward a decade, so the advances in missions and tech keep leaping forward.

    If you grew up thinking we should be pioneering space by now, you will probably enjoy it.




  • Not only this annoyance you mentioned, but my personal little saying is that turn signals aren’t just for the benefit of who you see, but more importantly for anyone you don’t see!

    You should have already made sure you’re clear of everyone before you think about leaving your current path. Using the indicator is a preventative measure for the sake of yourself and anyone in a blind spot or that you failed to notice.


  • I agree with hand washing as best to prevent any chains catching in lacey bits. If daily is a pain, maybe do it once a week. Just put a little detergent in the bathroom sink and give a few swishes and squeezes and hang them on something like this.

    If you do want to toss them in the washer, I’d use a lingerie laundry bag and just toss in a few, again to minimize potential snags or tangles and run on the delicate cycle and hang dry. It’d suck to toss a bunch in loose and pull out a big tangled ball. 😧





  • I agree, it is probably not advisable for most people to do what I did.

    There are many details left out of the story, but the things that really helped were that it was obvious to everyone she was a good person that was having some kind of mental illness. The police and judge were definitely not thrilled with her, but they all seemed to recognize she was not your typical troublemaker. They could have made the situation much harder to deal with.

    Also her being from a family that is solidly upper middle class that is very close with each other. They also supported her emotionally, and were able to afford her treatment at the hospital and her lawyer whereas I would not have been able to.

    She was extremely fortunate, all considered, throughout the whole process. It was always apparent that she wanted help. I’m a bit of refurbished “damaged goods” myself, so I was able to spot a lot of potential situations before they got much chance to develop, and could tell her to get her medications adjusted or what things to talk to her psychologist about.

    Most people in her case I’m sure do not have anywhere near the resources available we did, which I do not take for granted, and she has known that also, especially being in the group therapies has shown her what could have been and I feel that was very helpful.

    I don’t like getting credit for anything, as with any one factor being missing from the whole situation would have let the whole mess fall back down. I absolutely was one key ingredient, but if you asked me, I’d say a few other people were more overall significant.

    But she’s the only one that had to be there through the whole thing. The rest of us could all have given up if we wanted to at any time. But she faced it all head on and dealt with every bit of it herself. It takes an amazingly strong person to do that, and that is my favorite thing about her is that inner strength while still caring so much for the other people around her.


  • My girlfriend had a lot of untreated mental/personality conditions when I met her that I was unaware of. Over the first year, she couldn’t keep it together anymore and was doing drugs more, missing tons of payments on things, missing work, fighting with friends and coworkers, and just started being rude to people for no reason.

    She was still really nice to me, but she just wasn’t behaving like the person I met anymore. I started considering breaking up with her, but by that point she was starting to get in trouble with the police. I kicked her out and sent her back to her family and she ended up checking into a mental facility.

    I visited her pretty frequently while she was there. I told her she should have been more forthcoming because I couldn’t help her if I didn’t know what was going on. I told her I was ready to dump her because I thought she was becoming an asshole, but now that I knew she was just sick, we’d get her taken care of.

    She went through a couple years of finding the right medications that she could stick with and did a lot of therapy, group meetings, and DBT classes.

    During Covid she registered to go to community college and give that another try. It was a bit difficult getting back in after failing out before, but she got in and worked really hard. She was the favorite of a lot of the teachers, and she almost got all As through the 2 years.

    She graduated this year and had a job offer where she was interning waiting for her, and now she has a job she loves, and makes decent money.

    We repaired her credit over the years, and it’s getting back to near excellent. We got her a new car when she had to commute to intern and do in person class and she’s kept it in good shape and quit smashing into things. She has great relationships with people now. She’s really done a total and successful rebuild after hitting rock bottom, and she’s still a friendly, caring person who is fun to be around.

    I was extremely proud to see her graduate. I feel that was a major milestone from where she started. I don’t think I could have gotten myself out of what she was in. She had to work tremendously hard, but she was dedicated and determined for the years it took to accomplish, and she’s never skipped backwards. I could not be much prouder of her.


  • I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t promote the superb Owl!

    Stealth

    Great Eye Sight

    Many have 3D hearing to “see” under leaves or snow

    Near silent flight

    Can rotate their head 270 degrees

    Tremendously strong grip strength

    Beautiful and effective camo for any environment

    Have settled almost everywhere on Earth but Antarctica (so far!)

    Great facial expressions

    Diverse vocalizations

    They can control positioning of individual feathers to either thermoregulate or to change the focus of their hearing.

    Their eyes dilate individually to maintain peak vision when one eye is in a shadow, but the other in the sun.

    Have a third eyelid to protect those special peepers while fighting, eating, or from dryness and abrasion in flight.

    And I’m sure I forgot a few things, but that’s a good start to the amazing world of owls!


  • The hippo is the true king of beasts! So cute and plump, yet so deadly and fiercely protective. Also much faster than you would ever believe something that big can run on land, yet is almost stealth in the water until you’ve angered it. It also has one of the most powerful bites and skin 2 inches/ 6 cm thick.

    I’ve become the go-to owl person of Lemmy, but I’m a long time hippo fan.