@JorgeStolfi@mas.to
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

JorgeStolfi

@JorgeStolfi@mas.to

Computer Science professor, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.

Generally leftist (which means socialist outside the US), dreaming of democracy, justice, equality, disarmament, respect for science and human life, green energy, etc.

Posts in Portuguese are about topics of mostly Brazilian interest.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

JorgeStolfi, to random
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

The incidence of crime in Texas among illegal immigrants (0.8%) is much lower than that among native-born Americans (1.4%): https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0

(Several other surveys have reached similar conclusions.)

slcw, to random
@slcw@newsie.social avatar

"Opening up the brain of a living human to insert a device, particularly someone with serious medical problems, deserves more than a two-sentence report on what is, in effect, a proprietary social media platform not distinguished for its reliability where facts are concerned. This human research subject, their family, all potential future research subjects and patients, the medical community, and all of us deserve more."

https://qz.com/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chip-implant-doctors-1851286237

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@slcw

How nasty of those doctors to doubt Elon's word. He is well-known for his totally honest statements, demos, and videos. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2024/01/15/elon-musks-latest-robot-video-accidentally-gives-away-the-magic-trick/amp/

JorgeStolfi, to random
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

In Brazilian Portuguese there are a number of hesitation and filler words.

A common hesitation sounds like "eh" could written "é..." and could mean "it is....".

Another one sounds like "ee", could be written "e..." meaning "and..."

Some speakers insert the word "tipo" (sounds like "TEEpo") which is a relatively recent slang that means "like".

Another common inserted word, especially at the end of a sentence or phrase, is "né" (sounds "neh") meaning "isn't it".

dgar, to random
@dgar@aus.social avatar

Of course Apollo 11 was staged! That’s how we launch rockets, in stages!! Even the Lunar Module had two stages! Sheesh! 🙄

It’s Always Monday On The Moon.

https://songwhip.com/dgar/its-always-monday-on-the-moon

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@dgar

And it was a huge conspiracy! Thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians, all working hard towards a specific US gov objective: convincing the world that humans actually walked on the Moon.

You won't believe the props they built for that purpose! They even put a fake spaceship on the Moon itself...

anubis2814, to random


Jews don't believe in Life at conception. They believe in life at first breath. That is when the spirit/soul enters the body. They also weight extra issues just like the supreme court did ridiculously conservatively when they decided on Roe. I.E unlimted abortions in the first trimester and half of the second up to 20 weeks, States can decide the limits between 20-24 as that is the point that a fetus is hypothetically viable outside of the womb (20 weeks is a massive outlier but might become true in the future as medicine advances). Anything after that 20-24 week period can only be performed for medical reasons, if agreed to by a doctor. Pretty much no one has a late term abortion without some psychological impacts because it wasn't their choice it was caused by a tragedy. Prior to 20 weeks, the fetus is no more intelligent than than a mouse of a sea horse and the only thing making it special is that is have a recombined unique set of human genes, but 80% of all fertilized eggs end up aborted by the body.
In the end, the only pro-life argument that disagrees with Roe is the belief in a soul, which not everyone believes in and there is no scientific evidence for. Jews especially but also many other faiths and non-faiths do not believe the same things about the soul as many Christian faiths. In other words, the pro-life stance is an enforced religious stance on people who do not believe. Never mind that the evangelical church started out as enforcing the Roe decision, until Jerry Fallwell realized it was easier to convince people to vote against "killing babies" than to vote for people who enforced segregation, So he used the abortion issue as a trojan horse creating an unholy alliance with the Catholics.
Any time you want to other a group accuse them of killing babies, it always works. Blood Libel against jews, Rome used it against carthage, it takes a beautiful human emotion and twists it for the manipulators own benefit. They can just say the magic word "baby" and the ability to question the other side immediately shuts down. Almost no on I know who is pro-life has any idea of what the judges used to determine Roe. It is VERY conservative as it should be when dealing with human lives.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@anubis2814

AFAIK there is no mention of abortion in the Bible (New or Old Testament), nor any statement of when a fetus becomes a human being. Science cannot say that either. Any statement that an unborn fetus becomes a human after a certain time or condition is only the religious opinion of some priest/preacher/rabbi etc. Freedom of religion means that no one should be allowed to impose their religion opinions on others...

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@mpjgregoire @anubis2814

But the point that ought to be stressed is that this is a religious belief, and therefore should not be imposed on other people. Each should be free to believe or not, but must let others free too.

A pregnant woman pays a single ticket on a plane and counts as a single player at bridge. Clearly, society has long decided that an unborn child is just part of the mother's body. No?

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@mpjgregoire @anubis2814

Science says only that a fetus can develop into an independent individual. Just as an egg or a sperm can. It cannot say whether an unborn child it is a "human being", because this is not a scientific concept -- it is basically a religious one (or philosophical, same thing).

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@mpjgregoire @anubis2814

"are characterized by bipedalism and the capacity for speech and language, with an erect body carriage that frees the hands for manipulating objects"

By that definition, not even 3-month-old babies qualify...

Yaku, to random Italian
@Yaku@puntarella.party avatar

Sabato sera da urlo con pizza gorgonzola (e altri formaggi) e pere. E una weizen non pastorizzata. Che non so che vuol dire ma fa figo ed è buona.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@Yaku @GustavinoBevilacqua @antanicus

Un amico italiano sostiene categoricamente che non è "pizza" se non è fatta in Italia tra i paralleli 41°30' e 40°20'.

Tengrain, (edited ) to random
@Tengrain@mastodon.social avatar

Gonna throw this out there to the hosts of the :

The court’s wording that an "embryo is a child regardless of its location" leads to what would otherwise be impossible situations to consider, so...

When does Alabama decides that those frozen embryos are being held under false imprisonment and require ALL OF THEM TO BE IMPLANTED?

@Karoli @socalmom @AlizaWrites

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@Tengrain @Karoli @socalmom @AlizaWrites

They should all be deported, being undocumented aliens. They don't even speak English...

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The majority of censorship is self-censorship; The Bezzle excerpt (Part V); and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/22/self-censorship/

#Pluralistic

1/

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@oliversampson @pluralistic

Not sure I agree... Galileo was prosecuted in good part because he publicized his discoveries in such a way that he embarrassed and humiliated the jesuits at the Vatican observatory, who were supposed to be the best astronomers of the time. The "Simplicio" character in his /Dialogue/, who defended the geocentric system, was perceived to be a reference to them.

But it is hard to tell real motives from mere excuses, even with statements by the people involved...

ChrisMayLA6, to random
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Good morning.

Before we get started on the usual litany of corruption, idiocy & difficulties confronting us in 2024, how about something a little more light-hearted.

Who is this, photographed in 1911

[answer in the alt-text]

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@ChrisMayLA6

Does not look like Trump or Sanders. Biden, perhaps?

erictopol, to random
@erictopol@mstdn.social avatar

Niacin, the B vitamin that was previously used to improve lipid profiles and reduce the risk of heart disease, promotes arterial inflammation and cardiovascular risk through its metabolites

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02793-8

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@erictopol

But note what says in the abstract: "terminal metabolites of EXCESS niacin"

funcrunch, to books
@funcrunch@me.dm avatar

Great article (as usual) by @pluralistic on "bestselling" books, botshit, and bezzles:

https://doctorow.medium.com/how-a-billionaires-mediocre-pump-and-dump-book-became-a-bestseller-2ed7a8c472d7

(Paywall-free link)

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

False. The USD is used all over the world because people trust that it will have a STABLE value, at least in the near future.

And it has a stable value because it has a central bank (the Fed) with the mission and means to keep its value stable, minus the planned inflation.

Without guns.

In short, people trust the USD because they trust the Fed. Even those who do not know what the Fed does, or think it is the abode of the Devil.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

By the way, one could use any currency for all purposes, but change it to USD only to pay taxes. So the USD is definitely not valuable or adopted because "it is the only way to pay US taxes".

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@brinnbelyea @rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

Because the central bank keeps it stable.

The central bank of any national fiat currency monitors prices of tens of thousands of products and services, all over the country, every month. From that data it estimates the monthly inflation rate (change in the currency's value). Then it intervenes in the money supply as needed to push the inflation towards the yearly goal.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@immibis @brinnbelyea @pluralistic @rvkennedy @funcrunch @kcoyle

You mean, like the stablecoins? Yes, if you did that job for a cryptocurrency, it would have a stable value.

Two small problems, however. You must have the resources needed to intervene in the money supply. And, with a central bank, the currency -- guess what -- would be centralized...

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

Some countries have laws that prohibit the use of other national currencies in commerce. But not the US. Americans (like people everywhere else) use the USD because they trust it, not because they are forced to use it.

But yes, people trust the Fed because they trust that the US government will give it the resources it needs to do its job, and will not try to use it to "print money" for its budget.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@pluralistic @immibis @brinnbelyea @rvkennedy @funcrunch @kcoyle

Again, that is not true. That is just bullshit that bitcoin promoters say.

Stablecoins (allegedly) backed by USD have a value about as stable as that of the USD. Yet no one is forced to use them.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@prestontumber @rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

Actually, Florida and a couple of cities in the US tried to allow people to pay their taxes in bitcoin. Seems it was the idea of city officials who (like Joel Greenberg) happened to be bitcoin investors and/or users of its money laundering properties. And then there is El Salvador.

However, those initiatives mostly failed, for lack of interest and/or because bitcoin, as a currency, is a bad joke.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@prestontumber @rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

Using bitcoin as unit of account is like using "rubber band" as a unit of length. Only much worse.

Indeed, that is one of the reasons why it is the most laughable thing that has ever been proposed as money.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@pluralistic @immibis @brinnbelyea @rvkennedy @funcrunch @kcoyle

The whole point of "web3" is to convince more suckers to invest in cryptos. Because the ponzi, like any ponzi, will keep running only as long as there are enough suckers putting their spare money into it. As old lies lose their force ("better than credit cards", "will be the reserve currency of the world", "escape oppression and taxes", "the LN solves all its problems", ...) new lies must be invented in their place...

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@shiri @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle @rvkennedy @immibis @prestontumber

Another big lie that bitcoiners and goldbugs must tell their marks. Which comes from "Austrian Economy". Which explains (1) why Austrian Economy went the way of the phlogiston, long ago, and (2) why goldbugs and bitcoiners dug it out of its grave.

Gold (like any commodity) has value because it has CONSUMERS - people who buy it to consume, rather than with intent to re-sell. 🧵‍>

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@ikaikahussey @rvkennedy @immibis @pluralistic @funcrunch @kcoyle

The Swiss franc, the Norwegian and Danish krones, and the Singapore dollar are among the most stable currencies in the world. Hardly because of their guns...

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@immibis @pluralistic @ikaikahussey @rvkennedy @funcrunch @kcoyle @wakame

Squirm squirm...

Switzerland is not "notoriously impossible to invade". It was conquered by the Romans, then by the French and Germans in the Middle Ages, and later by Napoleon.

If guns is what matter, why should the US support Norway's "violent" imposition of krona, instead of just taking its oil and forging it to use USD?

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