oatscoop

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Scissors work because the blades are tight against each other -- there's no gap between them when they're cutting. When they "go sideways" it's usually because the hinge is loose.

If they're good quality scissors, you probably need to tighten the screw holding the blades together.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (20 children)

"Different world views" isn't a problem, the problem is users espousing repugnent "world views" and being assholes.

Pretending like we have to put up with other users' repulsive, insane "ideas" and bullying behavior in our spaces is laughable. Bigots, fascists, and actual tankies can fuck off.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

A hexbear user "called me out" in chapotraphouse for "transphobia" for a comment I made pointing out how insane it is that the hexbear team was calling the admin/mods of blahaj.zone "transphobic" -- the admin and most of the mod team are actual trans people.

So I replied to the callout by saying I'm a landlord (I'm not) and asking how much I should charge for rent as a "card carrying leftist." Replied to a few responses about how I'm a one of the good landlords and providing an essential service at a reasonable price.

My idea was to bait the worst offenders, and it worked. I waited for the replies to roll in, then blocked every single user that commented on that post. Anyone that DMed me about it got blocked too. A couple weeks later I blocked the hexbear and lemmygrad instances in my user settings.

It worked great and I haven't had many issues since.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Hexbear mods tolerate (and sometimes encourage) the worst behaviors of their user base, which is why instances defederate from hexbear.

When those users join other instances one of two things happens:

  • the mod team does their job, forcing those users to tone down their behavior or get banned.
  • the instances goes to shit and other instances defederate from them.

As long as you stick to a decent instance it's eventually a self correcting problem. You can also block instances yourself in your account settings on lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Any major power could easily assasinate the leadership of any other major power, but doing so is taboo for obvious reasons.The nuclear taboo is higher on the list of "things that are not done."

Opening the door to actually using nuclear weapons represents a threat to everyone -- including the rich and powerful. Whoever is dumb enough to use even a tactical nuke is going to not only find themselves a pariah, they're going to face coordinated efforts to eliminate the threat they represent by everyone.

Imagine being in his inner circle: you'd be getting credible offers of "whatever you need and want" to remove Putin from power from every major power on the planet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

There's plenty of really nice nursing homes in the USA ... they're just charge thousands of dollars a month and kick you out if you can't pay.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's what I'm running, though I had issues with it randomly requiring a reset. Installing OpenWrt fixed that problem.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

"Guys, don't even try to fight back. Please just give up."

Edit: Check out this user's post and comment history.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

narcissists into his cabinet

The great thing about narcissists is they're narcissists: they only care about themselves, they're thin skinned, and they're vindictive.

There is no chance in hell this admin is going to be efficient. One of the things that stands to save the USA is the inevitable infighting of Trump's cabinet and party.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I think they're saying Ukraine should have been given everything they needed to win the war quickly from the start. A lot of people believe the "slow trickle" of aid was designed to drag the war on.

The argument is that a long war is far more damaging to russia, whereas a losing a short war leaves them in a better position to recover and try again in the near future -- beating russia to a bloody pulp vs giving it a black eye.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The states have limited power to defy the feds.

Case in point: legalized marijuana. That said, my fear in regards to states defying laws is:

  • Targeted attacks by MAGA terrorists, particularly regarding anything LGBTQ+ or reproductive healthcare related.
  • The fed withholding federal funds to punish states that don't fall in line.

The former is particularly concerning as police and the national guard are predominately right-wing. My state passed the SAFE-T Act to address abuses in the police/justice system. Naturally, various police departments weren't happy about this, and through obtuse interpretation of the act they'll claim they can't legally do vital parts of their job -- something I've seen multiple times first hand. Refusing to do their job competently in response to MAGA terrorism isn't hard to imagine.

The later gets tricky. Most of the states that would push back against unjust federal laws are also states that pay more in federal taxes than they receive in aid. The "obvious" solution withhold tax dollars going to the fed to make up the difference ... which would be next to impossible in practice. Even if states mange to do it they'd be playing into Republican hands by defunding essential federal services.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Well, when the Nazis initially started "getting rid" of Jews they started with deportation and other countries refused to take them.

Given how that turned out I'm sure it will be fine.

37
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Daler Mehndi's 1998 music video, in which the singer performs with 4 "clones" of himself. "Mehndi claims his music was often criticized for only being popular due to the abundance of beautiful, dancing women in his videos The singer responded by creating a video that featured nobody but himself." Apparently he wasn't wrong and the song went on to become the "biggest indi-pop hit at the time".

The video caught the attention of the wider internet around 2006. The catchy song, dated visual effects, and absurdity of the "clones" fueled its spread.

On a less fun note: in 2018 the singer and his brother Shamsar were convicted of human trafficking, accused of "cheating people of large sums of money by falsely promising to take them to America" and "illegally sending people abroad as a part of their dance troupes."

 

‘Chicago rat hole’ mysteriously filled in, then restored by neighbors — ‘Chicago takes care of its own’

Reports that the viral landmark had been filled with a plasterlike substance circulated on social media Friday morning, as well as stories of those working to return the creature’s imprint to its original glory. By Violet Miller

A woman who didn’t want to be identified due to possible “ratribution” removes debris from the iconic Chicago rat hole in Roscoe Village Friday.

About a week after going viral, the Chicago “rat hole” brought Chicagoans together once again, this time to restore it.

Reports that the longtime neighborhood fixture and landmark in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street had been filled, perhaps with a plasterlike substance, circulated on social media Friday morning, followed by stories of those working to bring the creature’s imprint back to its original glory.

Residents of the building next to the rat hole — who asked not to be identified for fear of “ratribution” from those who filled the hole — worked Friday afternoon to scrub away at what was left after some dedicated fans had scraped out most of what had briefly filled the hole.

Since the viral post that started the rat hole obsession, residents of the building have become the unofficial “keepers” of “Lil Stucky” — the neighborhood name for the creature who once laid in the cement — sifting through any potentially dangerous tributes left and clearing the sidewalk of ice and snow.

The guardians of the hole were not sure who was behind the filling-in. They said they had shoveled about 9 a.m. Friday and didn’t notice the imprint had been filled in under a layer of ice. Another neighbor — whose Ring doorbell camera wasn’t recording overnight — said they had seen people taking pictures with it around 1 a.m.

Coins left in the hole were strewn about the sidewalk, though the shrine left to the side of the sidewalk seemed untouched. A clue might have been left behind by the culprits: a gray lid that could have been from the vessel holding the substance used to fill in the hole.

“Everyone has seemed really good-natured, but you always worry something bad could happen,” they said. A woman who didn’t want to be identified due to possible “ratribution” cleans the iconic Chicago Rat Hole of a plaster type substance in the 1900 block of W. Roscoe St. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024.

A woman who didn’t want to be identified due to possible “ratribution” cleans out the beloved rat hole Friday.

Jeff VanDam, an 11-year resident of the neighborhood, strolled a few houses down with a flathead screwdriver and hammer Friday afternoon to join in restoration efforts.

He said his 6- and 10-year-old daughters love the rat hole — though they know it’s a squirrel — and he “had to” set out to ensure it was preserved.

While most people have enjoyed the fuss over the landmark, he said he had heard some “annoyance” expressed by neighbors on the block, but that was mostly after someone installed a giant cross.

“I’ve heard mixed things,” VanDam said. “Overall, people just appreciate that our wonderful block is getting attention — even if it’s to look at a rat hole.”

The former New Yorker said the rat hole was a better representation of Chicago than other, more well-known landmarks, such as the Bean.

“I think Chicago isn’t the Bean, but is things like the rat hole,” VanDam said. “It’s a small, quirky feature of a neighborhood where we get used to it, we care about it, and we want to protect it. That’s what happened today.” Some of the offerings left out for Chicago’s iconic Rat Hole in the 1900 block of W. Roscoe St. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. Included was Hot Topic Cash, a recreation of an official dedication plaque, flowers and toys.

Some of the offerings left outside Chicago’s rat hole include Hot Topic Cash, a recreation of an official dedication plaque, flowers and toys.

Three friends who came to leave a tribute to Lil Stucky — a bottle of Jeppson’s Malört — agreed.

Mo Flanagan, Olivia Grover and Perry Sadler met up to visit the landmark now that Chicago’s temperatures have become more tolerable after the deep freeze earlier this week.

Flanagan, who lives in the Avondale neighborhood, said it’s things like the rat hole that set Chicago apart from other big cities like New York, and likened it to the Cubs’ superstition around goats.

“Chicago’s a big city, but it has a lot of small-town gossip like this,” Flanagan said. Friends Olivia Grover, left, Mo Flanagan, center, and Perry Sadler take swigs of Malört next to Chicago’s iconic Rat Hole in the 1900 block of W. Roscoe St. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. Earlier the Rat Hole was filled in with a plaster type substance but was cleaned out by neighbors.

Friends Olivia Grover (from left), Mo Flanagan and Perry Sadler take swigs of Malört Friday next to Chicago’s rate hole.

Sadler, a Wrigleyville resident, said he figured someone would interfere with the rat hole, and the trio discussed who it could be. Sadler put his bet on an angry neighbor.

Regardless of the culprit, the three agreed seeing people come together only “added to the lore” of the rat hole and showed unity among the city’s residents.

“I think it really speaks to the community aspect of this city,” said Grover, who lives in Ravenswood. “The Midwest is a caring place.”

“Chicago takes care of its own,” Flanagan said.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_rat_hole

32
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

A classic from the now defunct Adequacy.org Made the rounds in 2001, and even appeared on The Screen Savers

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