jennyzilliac

@jennyzilliac@sfba.social

Oaklander who likes to keep it local! Black Lives Matter. Accountable government is good government. Good government values every human being. Strong, supportive communities is where the good life takes root.

Oh. And I clearly need to up my kickball game. 😄

Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Religion: I can't go for that!
Favorite form of government: Representative Democracy
One thing I don't like: When people try to recall elected officials for doing exactly what the candidate promised!

#Oakland

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jeffowski, (edited ) to random
@jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar

Part 1 - (See below for Parts 2 thru 4)
Every month, I redo this pinned post so people know what is happening on this feed.
This is a repository of memes from multiple outlets. It is all stashed here because it is easy to search with my "media" feed.
This originally was set to private/followers only but everyone asked me to make it public so everyone can use it.
So if you see anything on the feed, PLEASE STEAL IT. You have permission. If you have any juicy memes, tag me in so I can boost -> more

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

I confess that I don't do alt-text.

When I started on Mastodon, I tried pretty hard to be good about it, but I realized that I started choosing not to post rather than come up with alt-text.

Am I a bad person for ignoring the needs of a small percentage (maybe 0% in my case given that I have an extremely limited reach) of readers? I hope not. I do the best I can out in the world. The judgements about what we fail to do ultimately does not improve society. I'm going to keep doing the best I can with the brain I have and call it good enough. Hopefully better solutions to accessibility problems will rise above the shaming.

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

Shoot! I would like to better understand what you are saying. I always enjoy your memes. But I've never been a sci-fi fan. So a goal of Star Trek doesn't resonate with me.

My goal is Sesame Street. Seriously. But without the Muppets. No Muppets. I want somebody up the street who will fix my toaster. And people hanging out on porch steps. Neighbors talking together. And people invested in learning, every moment of every day.

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

In another thread I am conversing about free will.

Daily I'm trying to figure out what it means to hold contempt for ideas if we are simply programmed by our environments with no free will. Are people willfully feigning ignorance? I'm feeling less and less sure.

I still think I'm right! But I'm trying to find new ways of understanding how other people are wrong.

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

This is interesting! I've started reading, but was interrupted by a couple of thoughts that I want to share.

First, I watched a lot of Star Trek growing up because my older brothers watched it. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

That said, one episode in particular comes to mind every so often. There was a female figure who could heal others by taking on the pain herself. Usually she healed quickly, but at the end of the episode, the wounds were too deep for her. She couldn't recover.

I've always related to her, and I see that scenario play out with women.

Maybe I would have enjoyed Star Trek more if my own programming had been further along while the Star Trek programming was in my immediate environment!

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

I'm very interested in neuroscience, and I've been paying attention to the subject of free will and neuroscience.

This Atlantic article ends with this:

“Given the issue is so fundamentally important to our view of who we are, a claim that our free will is illusory should be based on fairly direct evidence,” he wrote in a 2004 book. “Such evidence is not available.”

My interest in the subject began some years back with a podcast (might have been Freakinomics) about free will and neuroscience that started with the mirror image of the above claim: If free will exists, there should be direct evidence of it in the brain, and there is not.

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

The Value of Science

Science is a product of human beings. I expect that if we plotted the output of scientists over time on the basis of quality, accuracy, and value, we would get something close to a Bell curve. A tiny percentage of the output is worse than useless, a tiny percentage rocks the world, and most falls somewhere in between. My view: Science is critical to our understanding of the world. At the same time, it's not always going to live up to our expectations.

Does it Matter if we have Free Will?

This is how I think about it. What we (people like you and me) want is to "civilize" our fellow human Earthlings such that we all get along and support each other and foster happiness. (Lemme know if you don't agree with this.) How do we best civilize people?

If people have free will, punishment might seem like a morally reasonable way to try to civilize people. But what if we don't have free will? Is it moral to punish people? I say no!

[more]

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

Philosophy

I loved learning about philosophy in college. It helped me learn how to think. I'm no longer very interested in what the early philosophers thought. I'm interested in where people have taken it and how we can better understand humanity today.

We are the philosophers of today.

jennyzilliac,

@jeffowski

I don't think I said that ancient philosophy is irrelevant today. I didn't mean to. I see it as a starting point.

Think about the discovery of electricity. It's still relevant today, but we have come so much further. We're not going to get very far in today's world if we call ourselves electricians but we're still talking about the discovery of electricity. Do I respect the folks who were studying electricity shortly after discovery? Absolutely! Big time!

Think about the ancient philosophers. Let's say a group of them was alive today and still thinking about philosophy. Would they still be having the same conversations? I hope not!

jonny, to random
@jonny@neuromatch.social avatar

I could read Shawn Fain pushing back into radical labor territory all day. They got the money, fork it over. Period.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-makes-new-offer-uaw-sees-movement-all-key-areas-2023-10-20/

jennyzilliac,

@jonny

Seems like Ford thinks workers should be rooting for the company over themselves and their families.

Makes me think of monarchs and how they were able to fool the farm laborers for so long. God would have it this way.

It's anti-democratic thinking.

I'm realizing that about a third of people are anti-democratic thinkers. The rest of us need to bring it!

skykiss, (edited ) to random
@skykiss@sfba.social avatar

Republicans added $7.8 TRILLION dollars to our debt.

$7,800,000,000,000.

Because they stole our taxpayers dollars and gave it to themselves and rich friends.

jennyzilliac,

@skykiss

Tell it to the school children. They're still listening.

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

⚠️ PSA for US peeps: please don’t forget, new COVID boosters are available now and recommended for everyone.

Schedule an appointment right now to be better protected.

jennyzilliac,

@thomasfuchs

Thanks! Will do!

jennyzilliac,

@thomasfuchs

Hmmm. Just tried to schedule a booster through Kaiser and received this message:

""""
The FDA has authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines and has deauthorized the current bivalent booster. For that reason, we're no longer giving the COVID-19 bivalent booster. We'll begin administering the updated vaccines after the CDC issues clinical guidance and supply becomes available (early October).
""""

jennyzilliac,

@thomasfuchs

Okay, thanks!

TheBierFrau, to random
@TheBierFrau@mstdn.ca avatar

If anyone has a free Wednesday, the Nazis are planning an anti-trans protest at every Canadian legislature on September 20th.

It would be lovely to see them horribly outnumbered and to have media report that fact.

jennyzilliac,

@TheBierFrau

I'm curious what others here think about the strategy of ignoring them.

These kinds of human beings desperately want to rile people up. They want to be seen and heard and screamed at and they want to be in the news coverage. They feel important when they get that kind of attention.

I would love to see news outlets demonstrate the courage to ignore them.

I would love to see zero counter protestors and zero onlookers. Consider asking people to avoid the areas where they will be protesting and refrain from posting anything on social media.

Make it a snoozzZzzZzer!

jennyzilliac,

@Adorable_Sergal @TheBierFrau

We'll disagree on this point.

DemocracySpot, to random
@DemocracySpot@mstdn.social avatar

🍅 You say "tom-ay-to" or "tom-ah-to" or "to-mot" probably. I say—if I'm country-boy shticking—"derMAYder."

That's how my Granny said it, Papa too, and everyone I was related to in the 60s-70s South.

Anyway, I'm having another sandwich. 😊

jennyzilliac,

@DemocracySpot Enjoy!

jennyzilliac,

@DemocracySpot

Holy smokes! That sounds really yummy!

Deglassco, (edited ) to history

While history often remembers John Brown’s assault on the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, it forgets 5 Black Americans who joined him, including a man named Dangerfield Newby. Dangerfield Newby’s motivation for joining Brown was rooted in his love for his family,. His story is a powerful reminder of the enduring struggle for freedom by ordinary people. They are worthy of remembering.

1/

@blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

jennyzilliac,

@Deglassco

Thank you so much for your dedication to sharing this powerful information.

Sherifazuhur, to random
@Sherifazuhur@sfba.social avatar

I won’t be 100% for a few days as I am helping to put on my son’s wedding. This means seeing (and hosting) some extremely hostile relatives. My plan is:
والله، تارى انسيت الانجليزي
and then moving quickly to greet someone else

jennyzilliac,

@Sherifazuhur

Sounds rough! Wishing you the best!

And your son and his new life partner as well!

georgetakei, to random

Incredibly dangerous.

https://secondnexus.com/huckabee-trump-elections-bullets-2024?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

jennyzilliac,

@georgetakei

I bet there's something he should be getting indicted for.

(And I don't mean this in an evil, joking way. I can only imagine that he has been committing crimes along the lines of other Trump Team members.)

diygene, to random
@diygene@sfba.social avatar

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/09/01/it-seems-like-everyone-has-covid-19-heres-why-this-wave-is-probably-worse-than-official-data-suggests/

“We wanted to make it like flu because that was easier, but it’s never going to be like flu,” Birx said, explaining that Covid-19 comes in more frequent waves, makes people sicker, kills more people and can have longer-term complications such as long Covid. “So let’s just all agree it’s not flu. It will never be flu. Following it and surveying for it like we do for flu will never be adequate in this country.”

jennyzilliac,

@diygene

Curious if you are going back to masking? (Or maybe you never stopped masking?)

It's interesting to think about the important role our own life's anecdotal evidence plays in our decision making.

A guy who has done some fixit work for our family was out of commission for two years from long COVID. Will I put my mask back on? I haven't yet, but I'm seriously considering it.

jennyzilliac,

@diygene

I think I'll grit my teeth and do it. Once in the habit, it's not big deal at all. But getting back in the habit is hard.

jennyzilliac,

@shawrd773 @diygene @garmcveyrussell

I'm so sorry you got clobbered so hard. Thank you for sharing your experience. It will help motivate me to take precautions.

I still have not had COVID, and family members have had extremely mild cases with no apparent after effects.

drahardja, to random
@drahardja@sfba.social avatar

Ah yes, this is a great way to turn “Can I see your driver’s license?” into “Can you hand me your unlocked phone so I can rifle through it?” at a traffic stop.

Yes, it’s more convenient than having a separate card, and it may serve as a great backup in case your physical card is lost or damaged. But please don’t use this as your only driver’s license, especially if you are an often-targeted demographic.

“Californians can now carry driver’s licenses on their phone as part of pilot program”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-03/californians-can-now-carry-drivers-licenses-on-their-phone-as-part-of-pilot-program

jennyzilliac,

@drahardja

"an often-targeted demographic"

I've been looking for these words. Thanks for finding them.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

Dear journalists:

You continue to pour your work into Musk's business. You are supporting him. You are helping him.

You are doing this despite his demonstrated contempt for you, despite his support for extremists -- and, as of today, his rank anti-semitism (effectively blaming Jews for his vile site's loss of advertising)

I know that you believe you get value from being "where the people are" -- but sometimes principle requires sacrifice.

So much is at stake.

jennyzilliac,

@kkarhan @dangillmor

💯

It's part of the fascist plan.

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