markmetz

markmetz, 28 days ago to random

How to punch Nazis: WW-II edition.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinaida_Portnova

Zinaida Portnova, known for having taken the lives of more than 100 Nazis by poisoning their food at just 16 years of age. She was captured by the Gestapo and while being interrogated, she disarmed the Nazi detective and shot him in the head. In her attempt to escape, she executed 2 more Nazis.

markmetz, 4 months ago to random

🤪

markmetz, 2 months ago to random

“George Orwellian Party” (brilliant!) 😂

markmetz, 6 months ago to random

“Pushing back against the surge of misinformation online, California will now require all K-12 students to learn media literacy skills — such as recognizing fake news and thinking critically about what they encounter on the internet.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last month signed Assembly Bill 873, which requires the state to add media literacy to curriculum frameworks for English language arts, science, math and history-social studies, rolling out gradually beginning next year.
"I've seen the impact that misinformation has had in the real world — how it affects the way people vote, whether they accept the outcomes of elections, try to overthrow our democracy," said the bill's sponsor, Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat from Menlo Park. "This is about making sure our young people have the skills they need to navigate this landscape."

Recognizing fake news now a required subject in California schools

https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2023/11/19/recognizing-fake-news-now-a-required-subject-in-california-schools

markmetz, 8 months ago to random

Ok, ok… I recycle, I compost, I bring my own bag to the grocery store. But hear me out, what if maybe, just maybe, WE GET THE G-20 TO REDIRECT THE $1.3 TRILLION IN ANNUAL FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES TOWARDS SOLAR, WIND, AND GEOTHERMAL?!?

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! (Gift link, no paywall)

You’re doing it wrong: Recycling and other myths about tackling climate change https://wapo.st/45PsQZb

markmetz, 8 months ago to random

🤣

markmetz, 4 months ago to random

Something to keep in mind during election year.

markmetz, 8 days ago to random

a “microcosm of what authoritarians do on a larger scale.”

“AFTER the Republican Chair and GOP members broke official House protocol to allow MTG’s horrific opening silo of rhetoric, they THEN made another change to dispense with the legislative process,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X (formerly Twitter). “THAT part is not getting enough attention.”

In a move she described as “highly unusual and still unclear to me how legitimate it was,” the GOP-led committee vacated both the typical amendment process and legislative debate that follows, moving directly to vote on their own text without allowing for amendments or objections to be heard.

“That’s why this stuff isn’t just all-sides chaos, or mere distraction, or a pox on everyone’s house,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “They WANT you to think this was some random devolution of conduct instead of a structured GOP outcome. We must understand who and what actions created the situation. It matters.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/181718/aoc-darker-intentions-mtg-hearing-chaos

markmetz, 11 months ago to climate

In today’s No Brainer department. (Gift link, no paywall)

“By installing cool roofs, air conditioning use could be cut by about one-third in warm regions, estimates Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. If all large North American cities — those with populations above 1 million — adopted passive cooling on roofs and pavement, we’d prevent the equivalent of the world’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions, or 57 billion tons of carbon dioxide.”

We’re building roofs wrong. A different approach can save money and lives.

#Climate https://wapo.st/3NlbwE1

markmetz, 3 months ago to random

This

markmetz, 6 months ago to random

Oh c’mon… who among us doesn’t make 200K a year and have no bank account…?

What Is Happening With Mike Johnson’s Money? | The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/post/176550/where-mike-johnson-money-bank-account

markmetz, 3 months ago to random

🤬
“To the outside world, none of the logic behind any of these decisions makes sense. All they can see is that the American political system has been hijacked and rendered dysfunctional by a radical, pro-Russian faction led by Trump—a disgraced ex-president who used violence and deceit to try to remain in office.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/us-congress-support-ukraine-war/677256/

markmetz, 8 months ago to random

Gleaned this from a piece on NPR. Over 90% of plastic cannot be recycled, we are conned into thinking anything above #2 can be.

The plastics industry is in cahoots with Big Oil and Big Chemical and is on track to DOUBLE the amount of plastic made in the next 10 years. The industry is essentially unregulated aside from a few municipal restrictions.

The only hope of reining them in is government regulation.

markmetz, 3 months ago to random

Believe you me, this is Mike Johnson and the MAGA cults wet dream. Don’t say it couldn’t happen here.

“If you “participate in LGBTQ+ activities” – which essentially means if you’re suspected of not being cisgender or heterosexual, or if you speak out about queer rights – you can now face criminal prosecution and receive a two to six year prison sentence.

Days after the decision, police raided a number of queer clubs, bars and saunas in Moscow and St. Petersburg under the guise of conducting regular drug raids. In some cases, they took pictures of people’s identification documents. The oldest gay club in St. Petersburg has since closed its doors as a precaution.”

How Russia Is Erasing All Traces of Its Queer People

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88xb7k/how-russia-is-erasing-queer-people-lgbtq-rights

markmetz, 1 year ago to random

I just talked to my tax guy today and learn something that blew my mind and also made me gnash my teeth.

You know all those giant pick-up trucks on the road and huge SUVs that people drive to pick up a quart of milk with?

Well, if the drivers are business owners, they are incentivized to buy the larger vehicles. Trucks with 6-foot beds, or full-size SUVs are 100% deductible, while smaller vehicles are not.

This just adds insult to injury to the fact that we are subsidizing fossil fuels to the tune of $11 million dollars a minute around the world.

markmetz, 9 months ago to random

Ahem…

markmetz, 9 months ago to random

“The Trump indictment is like the Bible: Republicans haven't read it, but still pretend to know what it means.”

markmetz, 4 months ago to random

For truckers driving EVs, there’s no going back.

“Diesel was like a college wrestler,” he said. “And the electric is like a ballet dancer.” Boots, who also trains other drivers on how to optimize the battery in the electric truck, said some drivers were hesitant when first trying out the technology. But once they try it, he said, most are sold. “You get back into diesel and it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with this thing?’” he said. “Why is it making so much noise? Why is it so hard to steer?”

#GiftLink

https://wapo.st/427ZSDd

markmetz, 4 months ago to random

🤪
@jensorensen nailing it again…

markmetz, 11 months ago to random

“Our results indicate that the algorithm amplifies emotional content, and especially those tweets that express anger and out-group animosity. Furthermore, political tweets from the algorithm lead readers to perceive their political in-group more positively and their political out-group more negatively.”

Twitter's Algorithm: Amplifying Anger, Animosity, and Affective Polarization https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.16941

markmetz, 8 months ago to random

Great! Now do billionaires!

The IRS plans to crack down on 1,600 millionaires to collect millions of dollars in back taxes | AP News

https://apnews.com/article/irs-millionaires-back-taxes-2624282ac20388311bd03ee76ae36f70

markmetz, 9 months ago to random

Funny how that works. Even a modest tax on the richest 1% yield major benefits for the people who need it most.

Massachusetts Millionaire Tax Gets Kids Free School Lunches

https://www.businessinsider.com/massachusetts-millionaire-tax-gets-kids-free-school-lunches-2023-8

markmetz, 2 months ago to darkbrandon

Cognitive dissonance anyone?
#DarkBrandon

markmetz, 2 months ago to random

😂

markmetz, 5 months ago to random

Bingo

“With Putin steadily losing the war in Ukraine, he needed to slow the conflict down and give himself time to reorganize, rebuild supplies, recruit, and perhaps even get a friendly face in the White House; a person that would look the other way, allowing him to finish his conquest. Nobody would fill this role better than Donald Trump — he is right, DJT would be great for Putin, he would be exactly what he needs at this moment — and for the next few years. So, he hosted Hamas in Moscow last year, and and then again this year, he sent Wagner forces to train up Hamas, he armed them with Russian drones and missiles, and when the time was right, they did what they were trained to do, attacking Israel in October, killing over 1,200 people.”

Israeli War in Palestine is About American Elections

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/25/2213813/-Israeli-War-in-Palestine-is-About-American-Elections