@pftompkins.bsky.social are you sold out at the Fitzgerald?

We Can’t Stop AI – Here’s What To Do Instead [Keep The Future Human] YouTube video by Future of Life Institute

I think we need action on this danger.
youtu.be/27KDl2uPiL8?...
#FLI #agi

Living in the tunnels of Las Vegas | DW News YouTube video by DW News

I need perspective looking from outside. I was struck! People have believed more from John Carpenter!

youtu.be/vAXLR88r7Gs?...

Apoptosis 4K (2006) by Drew Berry wehi.tv, sound design Franc Tétaz YouTube video by WEHImovies

Astonishing how good visualizations can spread widely-established, but little known settled science to so many in the world!

youtu.be/P5jEKs7AxVc?...

A now gone or at least blank user called cribou64.bsky.social replied to a post I made suggesting it. I wish there were a durable place one could go and get marked up!

Scarier than this!

l've shared this story before but l'm thinking about it a lot right now: When I was in the fourth grade, I had a very kind, gentle teacher named Mr. File. One day, after recess he stormed into the classroom, fuming, his head bright red. Never saw him angry before and now he was furious. He grabbed the chalk and drew a huge swastika on the blackboard. He pointed at it and yelled, "Do you know what this is? Do you know what this means?" He had discovered that some kids were drawing the symbol somewhere on the playground during recess. He went on to tell us the very blunt truth of the holocaust. The death, the cruelty, the human evil. "That's what this means," he said. Mr File was determined that the next generations didn't forget the horrors of the nazis. Of an authoritarian government. Of scapegoating groups of people to fuel cultish devotion to a strong man leader who can't be questioned.

Mr. File could have let this go. He could have sighed and thought "kids these days" and not made a fuss. But he would not allow a swastika to become some edgy, ironic thing a kid scrawled on the playground to test the boundaries. He demanded that the symbol be known for what it truly is, what it truly means. 1 keep imagining Mr. File rapping his knuckles on a picture of Elon Musk doing an obvious nazi salute. I hear Mr File demanding, "Do you know what this is? Do you know what it means?" Mr File made that speech about the swastika to me and my classmates in 1984 so we wouldn't forget. So we wouldn't let the Overton Window shift. So the next generations would hold the line. So in honor of Mr File: Elon Musk did a nazi salute because he is a neo nazi. He supports the ideology of nazis. He is actively advocating for a far-right party in GERMAN politics. He has multiple posts on social media advocating white supremacist ideology.

And there is no "doing it ironically to get a rise out of people" excuse in my book. The swastika means what the swastika means and so does that salute. He wants to play a childish game where he can wink at fellow nazis and say, "look at the nazi salute I did." Then turn around and claim he didn't do it while snickering behind his hand. He's an obvious, sad bully. He's the sad, angry kid who pulls on another kid's hair then when they turn around claims he didn't do it. He gets power over people both in the doing of it and the denying of it. He is pathetic and extremely dangerous because he has power. I want to do every little thing I can to take that power away. So I will add my tiny voice to the chorus and call him out. He's a nazi. I'm done posting on X. Sadly, I don't own a Tesla so I can't get rid of one.

Life was already very difficult. Balancing career, finances, personal joy, etc is incredibly challenging. I'm lucky to have many, many advantages and I know it's even more challenging for lots of other folks for lots of different reasons. Uprooting ourselves from websites, stores, vehicles, drinks that provide comfort and connection is not easy. These companies have wormed their way into our lives in a way that often leaves us little choice. But I think we have to use every lever of power to pushback that we can personally manage. That will be different for different folks, but I feel we should at least try to use our power where we can. The very least I can do is be honest. I know what that salute is. I know what it means. And I'm not going to ignore it or accept it. Mr File passed that classroom a baton. I really don't want to drop it.

A story about my fourth grade teacher and nazis

Julia Louis Dreyfus is waiting for the text from Lorne (if she hasn't already gotten it!)

She looks almost like the morally-questionable _character_ "Val" Dreyfus plays in MARVEL! (Purple stripe, not white.)

Thank you for doing this!

Minneapolis has a great Pride celebration and I'd better not see them in that parade again with this policy!

Someone should make a checklist site to follow along since they are going down the Project 2025 action items.

Terry usually recommended "Small Gods" as a starting Discworld book since it was stand-alone, but if you love the watch books:

Guards! Guards!
Men At Arms
Feet Of Clay
Jingo
The Fifth Elephant
Night Watch
Thud!
Snuff

When that hole evaporates, how long will it take and how much of a bomb will it seem like? An A4 sheet of paper is about 5 grams?

According to Gemini:
"...a 5-gram black hole would release approximately 0.107 megatons of energy during its evaporation, equivalent to about 4.5 x 10^14 Joules.

Who are the subordinates and allegiance and to what level in the organizations? Competence will run into politics, but where? Entertaining if not counter-productive and futile wastes of, at best, time!

I would remind you of the delicate words of Jello Biafra you know so well!

The History Of Violence: From The Stone Age To The Present Day YouTube video by Steven Pinker

There is so much!
youtu.be/lnEc98ngU7Y?...

tinyurl.com/2dox7my5
(Or look at The World in Data!)

Behold, ladder tree! (Also a turkey fryer rig at its other job.)

Loved it, of course, but there are no options for smaller file size on the downloads. Giant Gila is 9.2 gigs and A Night of Toons is 3.5 gigs (animation must be easier for whatever pitiful codec they are using!)

I want to make these artists accessible, and I know I get tetchy.

"Womjamorous Canostehogans!" (sp certainly wrong) heard from Penn Jillette. I was amazed by the syllables and phonetics!

"God" mandatory SINCE H.R. 619 1955 bill, national Motto next year.

"Wombula - The Spirit of 2018," Agrees!

"These eyedrops may sting a little..."

I would have jumped to go see that! Amazing!

@theauthorguy.bsky.social
After Terry died, I looked for the new. It turned out I had already read "Lamb!"

I love your work and you are the most famous person that follows me...

I love Alex to death, he did "Zappa!" doco!
I worry about the trends in discourse on Bluesky.
bsky.app/profile/alex...

I like this survey the site does because it rationalizes for minimizing area under the curve for exposure without complete FUD-sales!

@stephenfry.bsky.social As for the culture here. I would never ask this elsewhere!

I feel uneasy about the fun folks make of things like the death of the UHC executive. I shadenfreude too!

Is there a bright line even I can detect when not condoning murder is overwhelmed by lack of accountability?

Honor brought by Fry of the unkillable show and Freakazoid!
Love it! #thompsonsteeth #candlejack #poogas

Are you optimistic about the near-term outcome of this welcome eviction?

Intrusive Thoughts | The Second City YouTube video by The Second City

@mariabamford.bsky.social
This very much reminded me of things I learned from you!
youtu.be/DBDjZ13dsGk?...