sab
@sab@kbin.social
- Comment on How do people actually dumpster dive to get free food? Are there any other cheap/free ways like this to get food? 7 months ago:
If you don't have any luck dumpster diving it might be worth checking if any of your local supermarkets (or even bakeries) are using Too Good to Go. They decide how much to put in the package, but a generous place will give you a bunch of food for very little money.
- Comment on [deleted] 8 months ago:
Well, the ones that federate with Meta will still be federated with those who don't. So it's really no different from what the Fediverse is already: Fragmented by design.
- Comment on Why did Pootin threaten the whole world with nuclear weapons, but then stopped doing so? 11 months ago:
It's dumb, but if it catches on we can begin referring to his Chinese colleague as Poohtin. So I'm all for it.
- Comment on People who order "a decaff coffee with an extra shot" - why? 11 months ago:
It's a completely different product. Italian coffee does not have much going on in terms of flavour beyond bitter, and the only way of liking coffee there is to learn how to appreciate that. It's not easy for anyone who has learned to appreciate lighter roasts of coffee.
Eventually I learned to genuinely like it, but I also did live there for four years. And I would still use my Chemex rather than my Mocca at home 95% of the time.
- Comment on If Trump and Biden both died today, what would happen? 11 months ago:
And then comes the conspiracy theories. Which will happen if either of them die any time soon anyway. Because what are the odds of old men randomly dying, right? There must be a conspiracy!
Trump having a heart attack before the election would provide enough conspiracy theories for a lifetime, and it honestly seems about as likely as him not having a heart attack.
- Comment on People who order "a decaff coffee with an extra shot" - why? 11 months ago:
The difference between Italy and the rest of the world in terms of espresso culture is night and day. If you want a decent espresso in most of Europe you have to go to some hipster obsessing over every tiny detail - if you go to a random bar they will give you an espresso shot the size of a glass of milk. I always go for a lungo in Italy, but most espressos I get in other countries still feel a bit ridiculous to me.
On the positive side, the obsessive hipsters might actually be on to something - there's a lot of potential for flavour in the espresso that is generally not explored in Italy. Italian beans tend to be very dark roasted, meaning that the brewing of the coffee is very forgiving but there is less potential for more exciting flavours. Then again, people who want a fruity cup of coffee are arguably better off sticking to other extraction methods.
And there's certainly quality differences in Italy as well! Though I feel like it often boils down to the basics such as keeping the machine clean and preventing soap taste.
- Comment on People who order "a decaff coffee with an extra shot" - why? 11 months ago:
Portafilters for a single shot is pretty standard equipment, but it's also a bit controversial among the snobs. A lot of baristas will stick to making double shots and just throw the second one away if nobody orders an espresso while it's still hot. In a moderately busy bar excess espresso shots are not really a problem.
- Comment on People who dont particularly care for or celebrate Christmas, Whats your favorite Christmas song? 11 months ago:
At my old job they were singing Hallelujah at an event because someone had required more secular holiday music.
Which.. I mean.. yeah.
Love the song though. Best song ever written about faith, God, and sex in juxtaposition.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
Sure - if your alternative is doing nothing. It's not like he's saying giving money to beggars is immoral, it's just amoral.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
On the contrary. Many charities benefit from volunteer work hours that simply would not be possible on a normal government contract. The efficiency of some charities simply cannot be matched by State institutions, as people don't want to volunteer working for the state.
Some volunteer positions could possibly be replaced with well-paying jobs to lower unemployment rates at the benefit of the economy, but people also get a sense of purpose from volunteering. The charitable economy ran by volunteering and donations is an incredible asset for any society, no matter how great the social security net is. And in my experience, a better security net is often correlated with more charity.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
Yes, I think I got your point - the soup kitchen should be financed by taxes rather than volunteer contributions by charitable souls. And I of course completely agree.
Even then, there might be room for a charity providing a social space for those with fewer means or who find themselves in a rough spot in life. I think no matter how well the state is doing in guaranteeing for people's needs, there'll be some room for civil society to make a contribution; if nothing else because the sense of purpose it can give the helpers is in its own right a goal worth pursuing.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
I read @bustrpoindextr as not criticizing the charities directly, but rather reflect that they represent a systematic failure of government structures. We shouldn't need homeless shelters or soup kitchens - there shouldn't be homelessness or hunger. Taxation and sensible public spending should render charity unnecessary.
Which is a nice thought - I wouldn't judge people for giving their money to political interest organizations promoting solidarity rather than directly to charities.
It's a fine balance between patching the flaws of the system and trying to replace it all together. In some extreme cases charity might make the system just bearable enough that it's not overthrown, which might occasionally do more harm than good in the long run.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
I'm not sure this is a valid critique of Kant - he invites us to step back and consider how we would address the problems more rationally and in ways that could be universal rules, rather than merely as an emotional response. We might very well conclude from this reflection that we should organize politically and deal with systematic injustice rather than donating to the local soup kitchen.
Personally I think there's room for both - in an ideal world the public should guarantee a baseline, but there might still be room for charities. The soup kitchen might not only help the people it serves food to - it might also give a sense of purpose to those volunteering for it.
- Comment on Is it normal that I feel pretty bad for ignoring homeless people begging for money? 11 months ago:
I like Kant's take on this. He argued (roughly, by memory) that giving to people begging on the street directly was a selfish act, as it's satisfying our own need to feel better about ourselves more than the needs of the homeless population, and would lead to an unfair distribution giving more money to those who are talented at evoking empathy rather than those that might need it the most. He argued that the unselfish thing to do would be to donate to the cause indirectly, responding not to the emotional response in the moment but to a rational consideration of the needs of the homeless population.
I think he has a point. That said, there's nothing wrong with being selfish every now and then, especially not if your selfishness gives someone a warm meal. And empathy is a healthy human reaction.
Your parents seem to have failed to grasp the challenges facing the homeless population. A better take would be "don't give that guy money, start donating regularly to a local charity instead and help make sure that help is given to all those who need it".
- Comment on Does anyone else feel like 90% of the population is stupid? 11 months ago:
By what standards do you rank us? Half of us are stupider than average. We're all of very limited intelligence - the best we can do is to team together to function as one gigantic brain of humanity, drawing from the strongest qualities of all of us. That way the world can be brought forward by brilliant scientists who are completely stupid in their own way, and who would never survive a week on their own.
Politics are tricky, but I think it's more fruitful to think of people as brainwashed than stupid. The amount of propaganda we're subject to these days is unprecedented.
As for general stupidity, be charitable; judge people by what they're best at. Most people have over thing or another they are great at, and our differences is what makes humanity occasionally great.
- Comment on Does anyone else feel like 90% of the population is stupid? 11 months ago:
Getting out of bed in the morning. Stupid. Huge mistake. Cannot recommend.
- Comment on I get that AMP sites are supposed to load faster. But why do they have to be so ugly? 1 year ago:
Don't worry about it, I'm here trying to figure out what the hell AMP is in the first place.
- Comment on David Attenborough to present third and final series of Planet Earth 1 year ago:
So excited about this. Planet Earth 2 is one of the best things ever created for television.
Really hope they'll get it right.
- Comment on Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings 1 year ago:
I think in animated shows it's fine. Classic Disney movies often have fantastic translations, and it makes it fun to meet people around Europe because we all know the same songs but in different languages.
- Comment on Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings 1 year ago:
True, I remember Squid Game was huge in the US. Did people watch it with subtitles?
- Comment on Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings 1 year ago:
Your market at home is also much greater than what any European country could ever dream of. Spain has some occasional hits in Latin America (La Casa de Papel was huge everywhere), but they don't have anything comparable to the American industry.
But for sure, the international market is huge - how terrified Hollywood is of offending China is solid evidence of that. :)
- Comment on Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings 1 year ago:
That's something I never really appreciated before. In Europe of course we mostly consume media produced in our own language or in English, but it's completely normal to watch (and for broadcasters to air) shows from all over Europe, either dubbed or with subtitles depending on the country. Subtitles being the only tolerable way of course.
If a show started airing in French or German with subtitled on US television this would be a huge deal?
- Comment on Swedish man scares the living shit out of an attacking bear 1 year ago:
You're not missing out on much. The guy is out to get his elkhound, and makes a quick decision when he meets the bear.
By making himself large and screaming (waaaah!), he succeeds in making the bear insecure, and makes it regret attacking (slow motion waaaaaaaah).
- Comment on "Sponsored recommendations": I pay for Spotify Premium, and yet somehow I'm still the product? 1 year ago:
Saying I don't own my copy of Pokemon Gold or my vinyl record collection is like saying I don't own the books in my bookshelf.
I guess there is indeed a limit to my freedom to how I use them - I cannot write the words down one by one and start reselling my copy. But that's a pretty messed up concept of ownership where I probably don't even own the shirt on my back.
- Comment on "Sponsored recommendations": I pay for Spotify Premium, and yet somehow I'm still the product? 1 year ago:
For being so sophisticated, it's incredible how dumb the Spotify algorithm is.
For me somehow it decided Pink Moon by Nick Drake was my favourite song. At first it just threw it in the mix randomly when albums finished playing and it went on to play suggestions, but after a few times of me not skipping it it went ballistic. Now every time an album finishes it goes straight to Pink Moon. No matter what Spotify radio I try playing it will be Pink Moon. I keep skipping it and it keeps coming back. I don't have a problem with Nick Drake I just can't stand that song any longer. I never once played that song intentionally.
In the end I just cancelled my subscription.
- Comment on Bradley Cooper in ‘Jewface’ storm after Leonard Bernstein trailer reveals prosthetic nose 1 year ago:
In a statement posted on social media, Bernstein’s children Jamie, Alexander, and Nina defended Cooper, saying: “It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of [Cooper’s] efforts … Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”
There's plenty of anti-Semitism out there to feel outraged about. I see how it's more fun to get upset about stupid inconsequential shit, but let's not kid ourselves into believing that an actor wearing prosthetics to closer resemble the person he's portraying is even making it to the list of concerns facing Jewish communities.
In other news, that actor seems to have a very tiny nose.
- Comment on Everyone is Broke and Tired - Tiktok Vents About Inflation 1 year ago:
Reminds me of a particularly powerful passage from the Grapes of Wrath.
One man, one family driven from the land; this rusty car creaking along the highway to the west. I lost my land, a single tractor took my land. I am alone and I am bewildered. And in the night one family camps in a ditch and another family pulls in and the tents come out. The two men squat on their hams and the women and children listen. Here is the node, you who hate change and fear revolution. Keep these two squatting men apart; make them hate, fear, suspect each other. Here is the anlage of the things you fear. This is the zygote. For here "I lost my land" is changed; a cell is split and from its splitting grows the thing you hate - "We lost our land". The danger is here, for two men are not as lonely and perplexed as one. And from this first "we" there grows a still more dangerous thing: "I have a little food" plus "I have none". If from this problem the sum is "We have a little food," the thing is on its way, the movement has direction. Only a little multiplication now, and this land, this tractor are ours. The two men squatting in a ditch, the little fire, the sidemeat stewing in a single pot, the silent, stone-eyed women; behind, the children listening with their souls to words their minds do not understand. The nght draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket - take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning - from "I" to "we".
I have always been very negative of Tiktok, but maybe the format of people talking face to face makes it possible for it to facilitate the transition from "I" to "we" even in an online platform, which is what traditional social media has failed so miserably at.
Maybe, by trying to play the game of surveillance capitalism, the Chinese finally - accidentally - helped the workers of the world unite.
- Comment on Letter to Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, about my stolen wheel. (Bad News About The Wooden Car) 1 year ago:
This gets to a huge problem in vehicle classification. An older man in my family is blind on one eye and can't see too well out of the other, and lives alone in a rural part of the country that gets snowy in the winter. He can drive, but only a scooter; a scooter cannot have more than three wheels. There was a few years when he was allowed to drive a four-wheel enclosed scooter that kept him safe and warm in the winter, but the rules were changed again and now he's back to needing help half the year.
It seems like such a stupid thing, but the huge distinction that is made between three and four wheels causes all kinds of problems. Now that electric bicycles have come to stay it's high time it's rethought.
