ceoln @ceoln@social.cleverlibre.org

Truth

I think the Jan 6 insurrection in America might not have come about. If not for a national mood that allowed grifters to push bad ideas beyond their normal limits.

We were sold toxic positivity.instead of solutions. Failures were still our fault.

Over the holidays I indulged in a lot of random research. Or watched Youtube. Definitions vary.

My focus was exploring "here was what I fell for" stories, from MLM exposés to recovery from toxic belief systems.

They are all so much happier when they are not living under an Authoritarian system of government, or thought. I realized these stories were all the same, because it's all cult techniques.

Say you can make their wish come true, then keep them busy with volunteering and working and all those things they need to do so their disturbing doubts will be kept at bay.

I recommend the always delightful Barbara Ehrenreich on toxic positivity, with her book Bright-Sided. Explaining how the “positive thinking” industry put a smiley face on inequality.

#Bookstodon #CivilRights #Authoritarianism

Have you heard that almond milk uses loads of water, so is really bad for the environment?

Or that rainforests get chopped down to grow your soy beans for that soy milk?

These are distortions of the truth, designed to make cow’s milk sound better without actually using evidence. See the photo, and read on, a thread 🧵 #vegan

Heck yeah, kinky photos should have image descriptions too. Disabled people are often de-sexualized (it's part of infantalizing us), but a lot of us are goddam perverts. Help us out. ;)

I gave up 15 years on Twitter and 22,000 followers. I used my anniversary to invite others to follow me to Mastodon, and I pointed out that every tweet is a donation to Musk. We know what he is and what he's doing. He gave Michael Flynn his account back on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

I started my #Twitter exodus as a boycott against Musk. Now, I'm thrilled to be here. I miss a few things, but Mastodon is just built better. I feel like it makes me (and you) better, too.

The Crypto wars are not over. Governments regularly try to weaken public encryption tools.

In this week's newsletter, I interview @Mer__edith, president of Signal encrypted messaging app about how we got here.

If Signal was a pen-maker, she said, no one would expect it to turn over all the writing generated by its pens.

"I don’t think we have much of a chance for a livable future if we don’t have a truly private means to communicate with each other."

https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/01/07/back-into-the-trenches-of-the-crypto-wars

#StarTrek

#Sunrise in the #MesquiteDunes of #DeathValley #California

#LandscapePhotography #Photography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Desert #Mountains #SandDunes #PhotoOfTheDay #SilentSunday

Intro ahoy. I'm Ben. Greatest hits from my bio include being a preacher's kid who grew up to be a Zen Buddhist, earning an MA in American literature, studying martial arts for coming up on 40 years, and being the proud dad of two cats. I make traditional Japanese sword handles ( #tsuka ), which is an unusual craft and fairly rare. Looking forward to meeting some folks here. Thanks for reading.

#zen #PK #literature #litcrit #martialarts #karate #MusoJikidenEishinRyu #ShindoMusoRyu

Here are the basic elements of a #Japanese #sword handle, or #tsuka. Styles vary based on geography and time period, but these elements are all usually present. The metal collar that goes around the top is called a #fuchi. The metal pommel at the bottom is called a #kashira (or #tsukagashira when mounted). The ornaments are called #menuki. This sword furniture has a #tonbo or dragonfly theme. The cord that wraps the handle is called #tsukaito.

Fog on St. Clair

#SilentSunday #Toronto #Photography

Brandolini's Law is terribly frustrating. 😖

Westerns. #westerns.

#Art

On #TheDataExchangePod I speak with Mark Chen, Research Scientist at OpenAI. We discuss DALL·E, CLIP, and other key research developments that led to DALL·E 2; data sources, safety measures, other ML models needed for its success. #machinelearning #dalle2 #dalle #AI #generativeai https://thedataexchange.media/exploring-dalle-2/

They said I could be anything.

So I tried to become a dark witch and take over the world by destroying the souls of all men.

They were wrong.

So I’m a software engineer now.

And through the Looking Glass we go...

Artist Says They Were Banned Because Their Art Looked Like AI, Even Though They're Human https://futurism.com/the-byte/artist-banned-looked-ai-human

I guess one take-away from this is:

If you know a trans person in your life who you want to support, and who is coming to grips with new habits around appearance, hygiene, etc, one of the best things you can do is (sensitively!) offer them not just a gender-affirming gift, but an introduction to the skills needed to use it. Don't just give him the hair gel, ask if he's styled with gel before and offer tips. Give her the hair thing *and* ask if she wants you to do her hair with it!

Needless to say, in NYC people wouldn't blink at a 45-year-old woman with a small child buying a pair of shiny gold boots. Like, pretty much all moms of NYC are walking around in tuxedo vests and miniskirts and capes. Or at least, my friends are. Elsewhere though, boy, people are startled to see it. I live to startle. Startle is my brand.