Nordstahl @Nordstahl@social.cleverlibre.org

I remember joining the fedi back in the day and immediately noticing how hateful it was, so I talked about it.

The popular response was, 'Then start your server and leave.' Ha, so I did. I started Play Vicious.

And those same people who told me to do my own thing harassed us to such an extent my team didn't want to do it anymore.

Those same people are now bitterly complaining about defederation.

It's not about blocklists and defederation. It's about control. They want to solely influence who does and doesn't get to be in this place.

PV was a gear in the works because they didn't want Black and Brown folks here, so it pissed off many people that it became popular.

Because it proved, the fedi could be more than a white utopia. It proved the fedi wanted to be more than that.

And as bigots are, they've never let that go.

Really don’t understand how Log Cabin Republicans are still a thing. Especially since it’s not as if the GOP is a model of small government or fiscal conservatism anymore.

It’s like you’re sticking around in a party that openly questions *your right to exist* while also openly defying the reason you’re there in the first place with stuff like unfunded tax cuts that explode the deficit and extreme governmental intrusion to private lives.

@darth @Nordstahl Some of us will even reward you by writing back! On Ex, people talked about getting “ratioed” because lots of replies meant lots of negativity and crap. Here? It’s the opposite. See, this is actually a social place, not an anti-social place.

For me, replies are the biggest reward, followed by favorites, and finally by boosts/reposts.

#US Congress is a cozy club of multimillionaire boomer lawmakers hoarding power
#uspol

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/29/us-congress-age-lawmakers-millionaire-boomer

The inevitable, dangerous X factor. 1/...🧵in part, via David Frum:

NYT reports that Elon #Musk personally thwarted a #Ukraine military operation he disapproved of.

At this point, Musk's interference to thwart Ukraine battle plans is not any kind of economic action. It is an assertion of a personal foreign policy, in defiance of the United States, whose citizenship he sought and to which he swore loyalty in 2002.

https://t.co/7hWGMBKo5j

Me either.

How to be a good citizen.

A hint for new users, in case you were wondering how to reach more people here. See, on 𝕏 the algorithm "rewards" your posts by keeping you a certain loop of negativity (go ahead, try to convince me that I'm wrong) which drives engagement. It works in tandem with dopamine and generally it's not that hard to grow your audience fast. Next thing you know you're taking time off because you can't handle it.

On Mastodon real people reward your posts with boosts. So go ahead and write. We got you.

Issued on July 26, 1948, Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981 eradicated segregation in military. The response from the military units, however, ranged from muted to outright hostility. This was no surprise. Truman’s decision & the reactions to it symbolized Black Americans’ broad struggle for dignity, respect, opportunity, and freedom in the United States of America.

1/

@blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon@chirp.social #BlackMastodon #Histodons #History #BlackMastodon #BlackHistory #Military #Truman #Missouri

That x on my home screen is the final nudge to switch fully over, and dedicate myself to rebuilding my network here. Looking for #FollowFriday recommendations for #CitizenScience #OpenScience #ScientistRebellion #ClimateAction

I respect Wil Wheaton so much. He is an excellent host and advocate for all things #StarTrek. He's a hugely talented narrator of audio books. But what I truly value is his strength as an advocate and a writer of clear, humane, empathic social policy.
Be like Wil.

https://wilwheaton.net/2023/03/the-library-is-a-safe-place/

The defense of the Russians is weakening. The Armed Forces of Ukraine disrupted the logistics of the enemy and hampered the rapid movement of his troops at the front, - The Times.

There are now three likely scenarios:

▪️go east from Bakhmut and turn south towards Donetsk;
▪️move south from Ugledar to Mariupol;
▪️ go to Tokmak and Melitopol, isolate the Crimea and all the troops of the Russian Federation.

The latter option will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to reach Crimea with artillery and air attacks. And this will make the peninsula impossible for the presence of Russian military and civilians. This is a major advantage.

What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain

Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.

What I have found is that throughout history, speeches by dictators and autocrats have one thing in common:

they use dehumanizing metaphors to instill and propagate hatred of others.

#trump #hate #racism #nationalism #whitesupremacy

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/07/30/the-connection-between-political-lies-and-conspiracy-theories-00108378

The engineers who designed the #Voyager probes half a century ago even thought of the possibility that a wrong sequence of commands may point the antenna dish away from earth.

And they implemented a self-adjusting mechanism that a few times a year scans the positions of a few known stars to infer the position of the earth, and point back the antenna in the right direction.

50 years later, these wonderful machines are still working, tens of billions of km away from earth, and even a wrong sequence of commands won't put them out of use.

The more I understand how they were designed, the more I feel like an early Medieval engineer looking at the Pantheon or other marvels or Roman architecture. Some amazing skills, knowledge and attention to details have been lost from that generation to ours.

Someone is watching Star Trek - Gralph the twice rescued rescue cat. Came to live with us in April. Visits to the sitting room are unusual but appreciated! #catsofmastodon #cats #RescueCat

This bird was really hard to capture. Deep inside the shrubs but just enough light to see it. This is a Sedge Warbler

A sedge warbler is a small, brown, streaky warbler that migrates between Europe/Asia and Africa. It has a pale stripe above its eye and a chattering song that can mimic other birds

#nature #birds #Wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdsOfMastodon #UK

I CAN'T be the first person to have thought of this …?

Another fantastic day 🙌🙌🙌

Had an early start, made my way to the Navy Memorial on the river and watched the sunrise.

Crossed two bridges and made my way home.

Just over 26 miles today 🙌🙌

Two more weeks then back to work. I'll be so interested to see how many miles I racked up this summer 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Today's ride was going well until just after this photo. My bike fell over and the derailleur hanger bent and likely the derailleur is messed up, too. I was 11 miles into the ride and well out of cell service.

Then it got interesting.

When I got cell service, I was able to call for a pickup. I was 6 miles from finishing the loop when I got picked up. I was lucky my wife was in cell range.

Lesson learned: using sticks as a kickstand is not a good idea.

#BikeTooter #Cycling