FriendOfDeSoto

@FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The most stable bubble⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I would argue this isn’t a shitpost because it’s entirely accurate and not a tad off color.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Can a person who is a convicted felon/ rapist even get nominated for the Nobel Peace Price? Extra points if you can ELI5 that.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Can? Sure. Should? No.

  It’s worthwhile remembering though that the people who get it aren’t all saints. Although rape and sexual assault are particularly distasteful items to have on the resume, if the person repented and then contributed meaningfully to lasting world peace, they shouldn’t automatically be stricken off the list.

  So those admittedly distastefully liberal guidelines should exclude any current resident of the White House then.

  I think they should ignore any person who is so publicly thirsty for it. It’s a prize you get, not one you ask for.

  It’s unnerving having to read that the US ally Norway feels like they need to prepare for retaliatory tariff action if the independent committee for the award, that only ended up in Oslo by a quirk of Scandinavian history, doesn’t award the prize to 47. Sad.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Does free healthcare access increase or decrease the need for medical personnel overall?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  “Free healthcare” doesn’t exist. You can spread the cost differently. Either you pay what you need - which could be a lot - or you pay less but consistently into a big pool along with other people and then that pool money gets distributed to health care providers. That smaller but regular contribution will go up if everybody goes to see their family doctor unnecessarily so there is a bit of a feedback gauge. It isn’t all milk and honey in socialized health care.

  No matter what system your country uses, you will have heard about the same problems. Not enough staff, lacking qualifications, people being overworked and underpaid - in particular on the lower rungs of the ladder. That leads me to think that the staffing levels are about the same. Maybe one system has more work hours invested in preventative care while the other needs more in mop-up crews for those who fall through the cracks.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Texas National Guard arriving in Chicago⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Can’t see anything.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The dipshit could’ve been using services under their actual name. I sadly don’t remember which shooting it was but the shooter streamed it on Facebook live. So that’s easy for a journalist.

  If you posted a deranged manifesto anonymously on 4chan or similar but mention the gruesome deed before it happens that’s a good link to your dipshit’s online history.

  There is a show on German TV that is a rough copy of Last Week Tonight. Every once in a while they surprise their audience with a show that’s about the audience. You need to register for tickets with your name and email and then the researchers mercilessly dig through all the stuff people have been posting online or stuff posted about them by others. And then they gently rib them or surprise them on the show and to compensate for the public embarrassment they get a prize. It’s a concept inspired by the Snowden leaks. It’s unreal how easy it is to link people to their digital footprints. Even anonymous accounts on reddit or whatever. Armed with face recognition and syntax analysis it’s almost trivial to uncover these links. This is the sort of digging modern journalists need to do. So it is not surprising that they quickly find any dipshit’s profiles after they shot innocent people.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  There is no need for an apology. Let’s just blame the French and move on;)

  I think it is possible to develop a sense for the language. Knowing not to pronounce the third person plural present tense indicative ending, as it is pretty much always in company of an “ils” or “elles” is one of those senses you can develop. It just isn’t the same as read as written. And I have a suspicion your teacher told you that white lie not to break your spirit. If you have endured the absolute mockery that English spelling makes of the alphabet, then it would be soul crushing to say: and here is how the French language takes the mockery to new (silent) heights. And we throw in a œ just for shits and giggles.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  … French is at least consistent in what is pronounced and what is not. …

  I would say you’re moving your own goalposts here.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Ils mangent - intelligent

  Same four letters at the end, not the same pronunciation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Danish has entered the chat. They don’t pronounce anything the way it’s written either. And French consists of 80 percent silent letters or thereabouts. It’s not just English in Europe.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Consider the needlessly complicated to be applied on top of a general baseline of needlessly complicated that applies to any language.

  While they don’t have gendered nouns, they have something equally unnerving for the beginner learner. Their noun classes evolve mostly around the nature of shapes and sizes, which becomes an issue the moment you need to count anything. For which there are two systems, one of which stops at ten, and the other is highly irregular in its forms. And don’t get me started on the calendar. English is relatively unsophisticated by comparison.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How realistic is it for me to learn Japanese so that I can experience Anime better? How long would it take to learn? Has anyone attempted this?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not an easy language to master even if you lived full-time in Japan. Everything about the language is needlessly complicated. The grammar, the writing system, the social conventions that influence word choices. Anime Japanese is its own kettle of fish. Overly colloquial or stylized samurai talk - neither of which you’ll get taught in most language courses.

  Now, you could be a savant who picks it up in no time. More likely you’ll be in it for a couple of weeks and give up - or life. It’s not a bad hobby. Even beyond Duolingo you’ll find plenty of resources online and lots of it free.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Could a minority in US Senate essentially disolve the federal state?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Back pay is not helping that much when your mortgage is on the line today/next month after you have exhausted all your savings. Of which I’m gonna guess post covid there aren’t that much. Your soldiers are going to suffer bad. Your go fund me idea is honorable; I don’t see it making enough of a dent. That would presuppose a level of knowledge among the general public, an awareness of these issues, and I don’t see that either. In a way, it’s that lack of awareness that gave the world Orange 2.0.

  The Republicans have the stronger arm in this arm wrestle. I don’t like it either. Their people don’t care if you chop off their fingers if at the end they can say they owned the Dems. If education works here, go for it. I don’t think the time frame is long enough for this to work. They’ve already swallowed veterans getting less health care and that their favorite valet José has been sent to El Salvador. Are grocery price increases not outpacing inflation? They aren’t issue-based, they are vibe-based and the vibe is own the Dems.

  In theory I agree with you. I’m not parroting anyone, I’m trying to look at this realistically. This is not the first shutdown rodeo. And it sucks if your team feels a certain level of responsibility to the country and all its people, which is more than I can see coming from the clown car load of people currently in charge. At some point the leadership of the Democrats will feel the damage to continue is going to hurt them more at the ballot box than to package a turd of a compromise in shiny wrapping paper. I want your vision of the Democrats but I think we’ll get mine unfortunately.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Could a minority in US Senate essentially disolve the federal state?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t doubt that. My crystal ball tells me they will compromise at some point for the good of the workers, for the good of the country - whichever line works best at that moment. I wouldn’t want them to do that but I’m pretty sure it will pan out that way eventually.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Could a minority in US Senate essentially disolve the federal state?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  There is a process called reconciliation that gets triggered in the senate in a budget impasse situation. I would say it typically involves a whole lot of horse trading but at the end is a bill that can pass with a simple majority. So I don’t think either party will be able to drag this out indefinitely or just to the midterms.

  Dragging this out generally is a bad idea for Democrats. The cult following of stable genius is going to accept the negative consequences longer as long as they get fed a narrative along the lines of “we prevent immigrants from getting health care and drain the swamp of lizard people.” Or whatever. The Democrats will feel their feeble support dwindle when unpaid government workers are done with their savings, which will happen before the cult runs out of patience. The whole battle is mainly fought on the backs of people whose only fault was choosing a career in government. The Democrats will take pity on them and eventually agree to the least dehumanizing compromise you can negotiate at the “12th” hour.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  In summary: you have the cooperation of the parents, you cannot exclude the existence of a mental issues, and you are allowed to spray the item then. These are conditions I put ahead of any other suggestion.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are podcasters/vloggers suddenly holding tiny mics?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  YT and TT are platforms that breed weird quirk uniformity. They all grab your attention with the same phrases (“you’ll never believe …”, “what about [insert something outrageous]? Let me explain …” etc.) For a while, everybody had the same Ikea shelves behind them crammed with shit. Then I think we moved on to neon signs. It used to be fashionable to show off your expensive big microphone, probably much to the delight of its manufacturer. And that’s why I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the manufacturer paid some influencers to hold the tiny mike prominently in the shot like they would hold a dog poop bag filled with poop from a stranger’s dog. And then it was copied.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Should 21-23-year-olds be allowed to date older people?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You are making assumptions here. Twenty-something year olds are allowed to date anyone older they like, the only restrictions that apply go the other way age-wise. And dating older people doesn’t automatically lead to self-destruction. So what’s your point?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨On Jeopardy, does getting the Who/What/Where/When/Why part of the response necessary?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You have to phrase it as a question to get the money. When you buzz in you get something odd like 7 seconds to answer the question. If you just say “Eiffel Tower” then Ken Jennings will now probably just stare at you expectingly to rephrase your reply in that time. I think in the past Alex Trebek may have prompted candidates to rephrase their non-question answers but I haven’t seen that happening in a while (but I don’t watch it that regularly either so 🧂).

  The whole point of the show is that the standard quiz show mechanic question->answer gets put on its head. The clue on the wall is the answer and the candidates have to provide a question it answers.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Since you referenced “trash mods” on reddit in this thread: I have a feeling your post may also fall foul of forum rules here. There is a question in it but most of the post isn’t about that. So don’t be surprised if a non-trashy lemmy mod comes in to mod it away.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This is not criticism; I feel very similarly about the big picture to what you wrote. Trump is not a Mao lover. He would have to know who that was first. And I think communist Chinese history is one of his many blank spots.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is Star Trek Discovery that bad?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Code of Honor, Profit & Lace, Sub Rosa, …

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is Star Trek Discovery that bad?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Don’t listen to the critics on the internet. If you’re not dying soon, watch it all. It’s Trek. It’s roughly 60% great, 30% mediocre to aged poorly, and 10% let’s never talk about it again.

  I would go in rough order of release because they do like harkening back to stuff. Actually rewatching TOS will be good for SNW. And Disco S2 is its backdoor pilot.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  My word choices have given you the impression of a scheming Machiavellian teacher who reenacts the Spanish Inquisition on the boy until his classmates pelt him to death with rotten eggs. That’s on me, it’s not what I meant. I think I’ve added enough clarification in this thread at this point. So I won’t go into it again.

  The opinion of one teacher, one that due to the question they asked initially and the forum they asked it in, and a few down votes are, I feel, not enough to call my argument dumb. Never mind the more personal attack that followed. Tackle the ball, not the player. If you want me to change my mind, that is.

  There is a whole field of study for this, pedagogy. I am sure the first chapter of the book isn’t “kids are ruthless. The end.” I remain unconvinced that my approach, where my suggestion was preconditioned on many things to have happened first, is the worst one until I hear something that isn’t that or teetering on the edge of name calling.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s an enumeration of if-phrases. “If the parents don’t support the teacher” is just the first condition of many. And some things you may have to infer, like if the teacher had to talk to the parents and got cold shouldered, I think you can presume the teacher has already talked to the student too. I’m not gonna go as far as saying my post was immaculately written and presented. I would go as far as saying the options presented were at the bottom of the list. No support from the parents, maybe not even school leadership, cannot use bitter taste spray for insurance reasons, etc.

  If a teacher telling a kid to get their feet off the table, to stop shooting spit wads at the row in front of them, to stop rocking back their chair because they might tip over and fall - if all these situations are okay for a teacher to say out loud in front of the class: “Kevin, stop it!” - and I think they are - then telling the kid not to chew on communally shared erasers is no different. Claiming this will immediately lead to bullying or just the threat that it might do is to an extent quixotic to me. If teachers will not assert their authority ever for fear of what the chaos kids will do, they might as well pack it in then.

  Your office comparisons are insignificant here. Elementary school is a different sport entirely. There is a difference between coworkers sharing an office hierarchy and the power, responsibility, and maturity differential students/teacher, never mind the fact that offices shouldn’t employ 9yos.

  OP has weighed in against the suggestion anyway. I’ll defer to them because they know more about this case than you or I.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This is something the parents should do - along being in the driver’s seat of correcting this behavior in their 9yo. In times of teachers crowd funding classroom supplies, I don’t think it’s fair to suggest “throw money at it” to a teacher. It’s not going to cost $5 just once and that’s it. If you have to beg for boardmarkers in general, this will be a line item that matters.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I want to highlight again that this suggestion was preceded by a lengthy checklist.

  I think you and I have a different idea of what bullying is. I remember kids picking their nose in class and eating it in elementary school. I don’t think it took an intervention from the teacher to get that to stop. Just some kids going “ewww, that’s disgusting” got the message across. This is how society corrects behavior. I wasn’t suggesting a teacher goes before class, does a Nelson Ha-Ha, “look at that loser, go beat him later and take his lunch money.” Just something like “Kevin, the other kids need to use this eraser as well and they don’t like it full of spit. Please don’t chew on it. Thanks.” It signals to the kids this is not okay and I don’t think they will go full Lord of the Flies on him - keeping in mind the preconditions I had outlined above.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would happen to the Earth if it got booped by a giant asteroid going super slowly?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Theoretically, probably not a great experience for the people some 300mi away or closer but I don’t think it would be an extinction level event. Speed is how most of the energy gets transferred. Lower speed, smaller boom.

  I think it has to stay theoretical though. You would have to turn gravity off though or make the asteroid such a weird shape that air resistance slows it down to that speed before it hits. And I think it would have to be sail-like at that point hitting at the right angle, making its impact much less threatening and making it way more likely it would’ve burned away in our atmosphere anyway. Before it hits earth there will be gravity pulling on it, most effectively from the sun and then earth. So even if cosmic forces got it to reverse beep beep beep speed before it enters earth’s gravity well, which I would call unlikely with an asterisk, then it would speed up 9.8 m/s or 22 mi/s every second it falls from the heavens. Thus making the impact more impactful than reversing speed. The asterisk being that there is a much bigger other new body in space that exerts enough gravity on the asteroid to slow it down. Which means it’s close enough to mess earth up in other ways (tidal waves, megaquakes, etc.) even if it does not also hit us, which I would assume it does though if it got this close already. So then we’re back in extinction territory whether Corsica hits us or not.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I keep a 9 year old from constantly licking erasers and putting them in his mouth⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If the parents don’t support you, and you can eliminate the existence of mental issues that require treatment or special attention for chewie, and you can’t use a spray solution, I would go for gentle peer pressure. Point it out in class, do a friendly dressing down how none of the other students want to use the chewed on eraser. If he won’t stop if you say so, maybe you can get other kids to do the trick. The unwanted public attention from his peers might be enough. Would your principal be up for a bad cop routine where you can be the good cop?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If you are in the US, and a karen threatens to call ICE on you, what's the best course of action?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m not going to watch the video. Site unseen I’m willing to pass judgment and consider her a truly terrible person. That doesn’t change the math though. If you have no visa to work, you may need to bow out of that job. You can’t risk denunciation on principle. Which is a fucking depressing sentence to write. But here we are in 2025.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If you are in the US, and a karen threatens to call ICE on you, what's the best course of action?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  With the blatant disregard for the rule of law this administration has already shown, it may not matter what number you fall under. A lot of it, very sadly, seems to be dependent on what you look like.

  If you’re 1 through 3, why are you picking a fight with a Karen? Get out before it escalates. And if it does, keep your head down and hope for the best. Or move cities, especially if you’re #1. 4’s and 5’s may want to have proof of citizenship accessible. Keep a picture of your birth/naturalization certificate and/or passport on your phone, preferably behind a password like in a password vault app - don’t just keep it in your camera roll, it needs encrypting.

  It’s also worthwhile keeping in mind that some Karens’ bark is worse than their bite. They may have gotten off on the threat enough to not go thru with it.