@azemon@babka.social
@azemon@babka.social avatar

azemon

@azemon@babka.social

In a place where there are no humans, strive to be human. [Pirkei Avot 2:5]

Husband. Father. Retired computer engineer. UNIX & Linux Geek. Photographer. Bicycle tourist. Pilot. Airplane builder. Community theater sound guy. Synagogue livestreaming maven.

My wife says that I do too much. I don't understand that and don't have time to ask her to explain it.

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

mbonsma, to random
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

Well I'm back on my bs [booing at drivers running the stop sign beside St. Ambroise Park]

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@mbonsma Try this for fun. Get an old baby stroller at the local resale shop. Stand at the curb. When someone is going too fast to stop for the intersection, shove the empty stroller into the street in front of them.

azemon, to Utah
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Bighorn Canyon, Escalante, Utah

mbonsma, to random
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

The last bike ride I took was about 20 hours before having a baby. That's the magic of an upright e-bike for ya!

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@mbonsma is that a giant cargo bag on the back, or a baby seat with sides?

azemon, to meta
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Zuckerberg Did Not Apologize

Today, Mark Zuckerberg said,

"I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered, and this is why we invested so much."

There are three components to a real apology.

  1. Acknowledge the victim’s pain.
  2. Take responsibility for your action which caused the pain.
  3. Commit to specific changes to avoid that action in your future.

Zuckerberg only did part 1.

So let’s stop pretending that he apologized.

elaterite, to Geology
@elaterite@fosstodon.org avatar

Bryce Canyon National Park (10/13/2016). I like how that tree appears to be climbing out of the canyon, as if it is trying to escape!

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@elaterite I'm headed there in about three weeks first my first visit. Also going to see the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Capitol Reef

azemon, to wildlife
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Downy Woodpecker at Creve Coeur Lake, Missouri, USA

Nikon Z 7ii with Tamron 150-600 G2
Postprocessing in RawTherapee

mbonsma, to cycling
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

NEW PAPER from me and a wonderful team of collaborators: ✨A Street-Specific Analysis of Level of Traffic Stress Trends in Strava Bicycle Ridership and its Implications for Low-Stress Bicycling Routes in Toronto✨

It's short and it's open access!

https://findingspress.org/article/92109-a-street-specific-analysis-of-level-of-traffic-stress-trends-in-strava-bicycle-ridership-and-its-implications-for-low-stress-bicycling-routes-in-toron

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@mbonsma where can I find this paper?

Swede1952, (edited ) to ilaughed

Splendor

Sometimes when I'm looking through photos that I've taken I see one that I originally dismissed and think "wow how did I miss that." This photo of a great egret (Ardea alba) shot through foliage is one of those. To my eyes now, the out of focus foliage in the foreground, enhances the photo creating sort of an aura around the subject.

You know, the photographs that I post here are not quite a vivid as the same photographs that I post at my pixel's gallery, because here, I reduce the size of the photos and usually make a slight reduction in the quality of the photos to make them easier to load.

Take a look:
https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Swede1952 I have started cropping my photos in a variety of aspect ratios, whatever best fits the subject. I do this even when posting to social media which seems optimized for 16x9.

Have you tried this shot cropped square? I love the bird but I think there is too much foliage.

azemon, to Palestine
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Recently I learned that Palestinian refugees are defined differently from all other refugees in the world. I am going to give you a bullet list of the differences because it is easy to get lost in the oceans of words. Then I will give you links to two articles, both lengthy. Reading those with the bullet points in mind will help you navigate the oceans.

1/3

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

  • Refugees world-wide are managed by the UNHCR. Refugees in Palestine are managed by the UNRWA.
    UNHCR = United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
    UNRWA = United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine

  • UNHCR defines refugees as people who have been forced to flee their homes and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country.
    UNRWA defines refugees as any person whose "place of residence was Palestine during [1948] and who lost both home and... livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict" and their patrilineal descendants, by birth or adoption, in perpetuity, regardless of citizenship in another country.

  • UNHCR seeks “permanent or durable solutions” to the plight of refugees, including “local integration” and “resettlement.”
    UNRWA does not encourage the integration of Palestinian refugees in countries such as Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

2/3

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Given those facts, you can see why the number of Palestinian refugees keeps ballooning. There is no way to decrease that number.

Yes, you did understand all of that correctly. Someone could be a citizen of the United States and still be considered a Palestinian refugee. Why?

For more, take a look at these two articles:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-dichotomy-between-unhcr-and-unrwa-is-no-myth/

https://www.cfr.org/blog/trump-gets-unrwa-right

3/3

azemon, to scifi
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Years ago I read a story that I am trying to find again and I'm having no luck. Can you help? Here is the synopsis.

The student goes to the library to study for a test. The librarian (who is seriously creepy) goes to the back of the library. She returns with a box of hand bones for him to study. No matter how hard he tries to assemble the hand, it just won't work right. Finally, he gets it together only to discover that a) there are six fingers, not five, and b) the fingers flex in both directions. He returns the box to the librarian. The story ends as the student finds that he is growing an extra finger.

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

Trump just filed his opening brief in the immunity appeal in DC circuit court of appeal.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.40415/gov.uscourts.cadc.40415.1208582803.0_3.pdf

It's late but I just had to start reading (morbid curiosity)

Paragraph #1: He tells the court that if he can be indicted there will be no end to it. Presidents will be indicted for decades! It will be a parade of horribles!

(Assumption: This is a purely political.)

#2 is the doozy.
Basically, Dear Court: You have no power to sit in judgment of MEEEE.

It's laughably absurd.
1/

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield Who wrote that brief? Aren't there rules that hold lawyers accountable for making stuff up and filing it with the court? I remember reading a news account recently about an attorney who got in trouble with the court for filing something written by AI that included fictitious cases

marcprecipice, to cycling
@marcprecipice@xoxo.zone avatar

Stories like this make me so angry and sad. A very experienced rider who talked about safety often while leading group rides. There is no level of “prepared” that is enough when the opposing force is 20 times as heavy and likely going fast. I’m so sorry for Steven’s family, loved ones, and community. https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/12/23/man-killed-while-biking-in-west-seattle-identified-as-steven-hulsman/

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@marcprecipice ugh. I cycle a lot in suburban St. Louis and worry about this sort of thing. It's both rare and way too common.

So sad

azemon, to Humor
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Oh so painfully true
https://xkcd.com/2867/

mplawner, to poland

Poland: Member of the far-right party extinguished the Hanukkah menorah in the parliament building

Nope, it isn't antisemitism, right?
Oh, , have you learned nothing?

Poland: Member of the far-right party extinguished the Hanukkah menorah in the parliament building

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@busheido @mplawner and it's not the place for such disrespect as a fire extinguisher. The right response would have been to talk about whether the menorah should be there

Alexandrad1, to Israel
@Alexandrad1@mas.to avatar

imo, whatever happened on October 7 in , it does not justify starving 2,3 million people, deplacing them, dehydrating them, terrorizing them, bombing them relentlessly for days, destroying their homes, killing thousands, maiming the children for life.

A terrorist attack does not justify a .

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Alexandrad1 I do agree with you that displacing 2.3 million people who have little access to food or water is horrible.

I wonder why you call what Hamas did a "terrorist attack" and what Israel is doing a "genocide."

Hamas has a written charter which explicitly calls for eliminating Israel. Their attack on October 7 was just one attack in their long running war against Israel. Since then, Hamas has publicly stated that they will do it again.

Israel is trying to destroy Hamas and has gone to great lengths to avoid killing civilians. It is explicitly not trying to kill all Palestinians (which would be a genocide).

So can you tell me why you choose these particular terms for what the two sides are doing?

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Alexandrad1 Hamas actually does have the physical capabilities to seriously harm Israel because they are backed by Iran. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_support_for_Hamas for some of the facts.

Can we return to my original question, though. Since Hamas (with iran's backing) actually does pose an existential threat to Israel, why do you choose the terms that you do?

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Alexandrad1 @mlevie Have you read the Hamas Charter, especially article 13 of the Charter?

Here is an annotated copy, including the full text in Arabic and a complete English translation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-W74BChw_8vEicJafPo4n7UT8dfUohAl/view?usp=sharing

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Alexandrad1 Are you saying that, if Israel stops attacking Hamas then Hamas will stop attacking Israel, and Israel will be able to continue to exist?

Are you aware that Hamas' Charter calls for the elimination of Israel and explicitly rejects any negotiated peace?

Here is an annotated copy of the Hamas Charter. This version includes the full Arabic and a complete English translation. Take a look at article 13 if you read nothing else.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-W74BChw_8vEicJafPo4n7UT8dfUohAl/view?usp=drive_link

With that in mind, do you still believe that Hamas does not constitute a literal existential threat?

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@Alexandrad1 @mlevie I agree with you about the current Israel government. It's disgusting.

Please go read the Hammas charter. The fact is that Hamas has been attacking Israel at every opportunity and would never stop. Never.

agger, to Israel
@agger@mastodon.modspil.dk avatar

's campaign in : a textbook case of genocide.

https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

No, it's not me saying that, it's Raz Segal, associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide.

azemon,
@azemon@babka.social avatar

@agger Raz Segal clearly has his opinion. Here is a counterpoint.

John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, codirector of MWI’s Urban Warfare Project and host of the “Urban Warfare Project Podcast.” He served for 25 years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. He is the author of the book “Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War” and co-author of “Understanding Urban Warfare.”

Opinion: I’m an expert in urban warfare. Israel is upholding the laws of war
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/opinions/israel-hamas-gaza-not-war-crimes-spencer/index.html

azemon, to Stoicism
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Chanukah Semeach

Regardless of your faith, please share in the central theme of our holiday: freedom to worship (or not) in your own way.

azemon, to Aviation
@azemon@babka.social avatar

"If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing."

  • Chuck Yeager

RIP Chuck Yeager who died on this day in 2020

azemon, to Humor
@azemon@babka.social avatar

Do something nice for someone today...

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