• 4 Posts
  • 88 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • Probably not. But individuals on TikTok are definitely denying themselves an opportunity to get smarter.

    To be honest, a large percentage of people are intellectually very lazy (use emotion to decide, dont’ seek understanding but entertainment) and prone to being manipulated.

    A large percentage of people hunger for a sense of belonging and community (which extreme nationalism and a tribal attitude can offer to some degree).

    In the wasteland of corporate-controlled algorithmically steered social media (prime examples: TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)… people who don’t have an analytical mindset will get themselves shut in a bubble, and subsequently tricked and conned in various ways.

    Brick and mortar social problems like a reduced chance of earning a good living by selling one’s labour - those pile on top of that. :(




  • Local perspective: seems to be going smoothly.

    Some people were appropriately concerned, but some were a bit too worried (and I’ve had to explain power grid basics to folks who depend on electrcity, but know nothing). If one writes an article saying some lines will be disconnected, some folks automatically assume it’s a power cut. :) Perhaps a lesson about journalists needing to use simple and clear wording if the matter needs to be understood by everyone.

    The biggest risk that was taken into account was risk of well-timed sabotage, so more important installations are better guarded for the transition period.

    Since Ukraine did it’s synchronization with the European grid while under fire, and also managed - I think that nothing worth mentioning will happen here.



  • An article about where - statistically - USAID funds were going in financial year 2023.

    https://www.statista.com/chart/17610/countries-receiving-us-foreign-aid/

    The biggest receiver of USAID in 2023 was Ukraine, where war is ongoing and very intense. All the top aid-receiving areas were either affected by war, or countries next to war zones where refugees are being accommodated by the million (e.g. Jordan accommodates lots of refugees from the Syrian civil war).

    In short - yes. People will suffer. Preventable deaths will occur in considerable numbers. A small number may even occur in Ukraine (example: kids who miss vaccination and catch some illness) despite its considerably greater medical capability and having other sources of assistance. But most of preventable deaths will occur in remote land-locked places with limited connections and limited local capability - imagine for example South Sudan.


  • To get the answer to that question, we need to read the Ukrainian constitution, not listen to any administration’s diplomats.

    My limited understanding:

    • in a “situation of war”, elections are suspended
    • a ceasefire may be grounds for ending the situation of war
    • the situation of war is ended by a vote of the Rada (parliament)
    • quite obviously, that’s done if a ceasefire holds and Russia seems to have followed through with promises

    Speculation is a bit fruitless when no agreement has been reached, nothing has been done, and nobody knows if a hypothetical agreement would be respected or not.













  • That’s some sad reading. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion, from the point where the train crashes back to where the company forces an engineer to cut corners on the design.

    Legal classification: probably rape, definitely sexual assault.

    An enabling factor: wealth (he was in a position to influence other’s well-being economically, offer hush money and sign non-disclosure agreements).

    “‘I’m a very wealthy man,’” she remembers him saying, “‘and I’m used to getting what I want.’”

    An excuse: BDSM. The author of the article is correct to note:

    BDSM is a culture with a set of long-standing norms, the most important of which is that all parties must eagerly and clearly consent

    As for the search for the origin of his behaviour… I think they’re on the right track. Like a former child soldier who carries a war inside them, Gaiman has probably been carrying a lot inside.

    In 1965, when Neil was 5 years old, his parents, David and Sheila, left their jobs as a business executive and a pharmacist and bought a house in East Grinstead, a mile away from what was at that time the worldwide headquarters for the Church of Scientology. Its founder, the former science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, lived down the road from them from 1965 until 1967, when he fled the country and began directing the church from international waters, pursued by the CIA, FBI, and a handful of foreign governments and maritime agencies. David and Sheila were among England’s earliest adherents to Scientology.

    /…/

    Palmer began asking Gaiman to tell her more about his childhood in Scientology. But he seemed unable to string more than a few sentences together. When she encouraged him to continue, he would curl up on the bed into a fetal position and cry. He refused to see a therapist.

    Reading this, it seems obvious that Gaiman developed his behaviour due to trauma during childhood and youth - and has been exhibiting behaviour patterns that became normalized for him during time in the cult.

    As for people whom he assaulted, it seems that they too carry a pattern - they were vulnerable at the time. Some had already experienced violence on themselves. Which, it seems - often hadn’t been resolved, but had become normalized. They were not the kind of people whose “no” is followed by physical self-defense or the full weight of legal options - and Gaiman understood enough to recognize: with them, he could get away with doing things.

    She didn’t consider reaching out to her own family. Her parents had divorced when she was 3, and Pavlovich had grown up splitting time between their households. Violence, Pavlovich tells me, “was normalized in the household.”

    Well, what can I say about it…

    …it is customary that accusations be investigated by cops (who hopefully cannot be bought) and presented as charges to a court of law. The defendant should have a chance to deny or excuse their actions, but if deemed guilty, is required to give up time or resources either as compensation or punishment. A court could make lesser or greater punishment dependent on taking action to fix one’s behaviour traits - seeking assistance and not offending again. Those harmed should be offered assistance by their societies.


  • and probably hard-cap the number of communities one person can mod.

    I would like to underline and emaphasize this one.

    As for the rule change in general (note: I’m from a different instance so it doesn’t influence me much) - it seems reasonable.

    If there is a community where a respectful disputation of facts - with sources to back it up - gets immediately resolved with a ban hammer, that community is not a healthy thing to have on an instance, so administrators might want to step in.

    Myself, I’ve noticed one such community on the “hexbear” instance. Got banned for explaining well-known historical facts, with references to sources and all. The reason: I was “reactionary” and only one narrative was allowed. If it had been on another instance, maybe the admins would have done something. But since it was there, there was no recourse except leaving.


  • The base is probably established using some long-term lease agreement. One would have to read the fine print about ending the agreement, but in principle - I agree.

    There is another complexity, though - the words were said by not-yet-president. There might be a difference between a president threatening another land, and a not-yet-president doing so. Currently the president is Biden and will remain so for 9 more days.

    Regardless, if the US base in Greenland were to see motions towards ending its lease agreement - especially if Trump keeps saying the things he has - that would be 100% understandable.

    When the countries were still on amicable terms, Ukraine leased Russia some naval bases in Crimea, and we know what happened subsequently in 2014 - they were used to stage a takeover of the peninsula.