SDF Chatter

4 funds have been launched so far, with more on the way.

Most people mistakenly assume that police solve crimes on a daily basis. According to University of Utah law professor Shima Baughman's research, just 11% of significant crimes end in an arrest and 2% in a conviction. A significant proportion of serious crimes usually remain unsolved.

What are police doing instead? Most cops spend between 46% and 81% of their time on “unassigned” duties, such as eating lunch or filling out paperwork. And when they’re on patrol, cops playing with their phones has become such a problem that even Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop himself, has expressed his “frustration.” Two weeks after the subway shooting, Adams asked New Yorkers to send him photos of officers using their phones while on duty. “We are going to start taking very aggressive actions to make sure police are patrolling our subway system and not patrolling their iPhone,” the mayor warned.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/10944749

Apparently, a "gastrointestinal reflex stomach ulcer" or something.

Well, I'm taking this seriously.

Yesterday, I was at the urgent care. It felt, well, horrible. I was throwing up.

Jesus, it was quite something, but I feel better now.

But I need to take care of this issue and want to commit myself to better physical health and exercise as well as strength training.

No more NSAIDs. Frankly, I don't want to take ever fucking again.

I'm also throwing away that dumb anti-GERD medication taht made me, well, sick.

Also, Trintellix is going out too.

Supermarket sashimi during my first trip to japan was where my preference switched to tuna rather than salmon.

880 yen, about $5.50 usd, and with that 20% discount closer to $4.40

Since supermarkets herr cut all the sashimi in their stores fresh each day, the longer the day goes on the higher the discount gets.

Here, the salmon was a bit stringy though flavorful while both the tuna and mackerel tasted fresh, soft and delicious, with the caveat that this was pretty late in the day, which is why it's discounted with that red and yellow sticker by 20%..

Watercolor and ink on paper.

Coconuts from faraway places.

See the Qatari energy chief's statements yesterday: https://hexbear.net/post/7875589

Locally fuel prices have shot up before any of the actual consequences of the shipping disruption have begun, and I'm temporarily shielded from the real initial shock by domestic production. The 1973 Oil Crisis was a big contributor to cars becoming more efficient and EV technology being re-adopted. My city's bike trail network began construction in response to how many people switched to cycling after it. That initial network, which is much cheaper and faster to construct and easier to maintain than a road, induced demand for a whole socioecological shift in the city's development. Intact concrete panels from the 1980s wind along protected waterways and high-density housing, cleared of snow within hours of a storm by a single pickup truck, with everyone of every age being able to birdwatch in native habitat for free.

Even with the price of electricity increasing for AI slop, I'll pay around $20 to replace 99% of my urban driving this year. Anything within 80km is achievable with the current batteries and those are rapidly advancing, especially in terms of fire safety and recharge time. The experience is the complete opposite of everything I hate about driving. As a tech, it's poised for a Ford Model T moment of mass adoption that we started seeing with COVID. Most of the parts are there and they're waiting on economies of scale to make it into cheaper bikes more than they are new developments.

I think/hope/Timmy-pray that this will be the generational shock in oil and natural gas markets that break people out of car brain. Even if I wanted to trade in my car for an EV to avoid the fuel shortages/prices, the broader economic collapse makes that a pipe dream. People can at least afford something that costs 1/5th-1/10th of what a reliable used car does, and I think this might spiral into a crisis catastrophic enough to spur mass advocacy for the initial bike infrastructure in the places lacking it.

Otherwise I agree with the demons doing it that the war is apocalyptic, but it'd be nice if this is the big one for bicyclists. We might get barriers and happy neighbours.

But this isn’t just about professors; it’s about all of us. This is the most flagrant attack on higher education in my lifetime. Why are politicians reducing public colleges and universities to vehicles of state propaganda? Why are self-proclaimed proponents of free speech turning around and using state repression to enforce speech codes on our campuses? Why can’t we speak openly about our social world in sociology classes? Why are unqualified appointees from the business world dictating to Ph.D.-holding academics how they should teach and which textbooks they must use?

What we really need are people beyond the university itself — the general public — speaking out about how ludicrous this all is. We are now living through an era of state censorship, politically motivated firings, and state-produced propaganda materials. If this isn’t authoritarianism in higher education, I don’t know what is.

Opinion piece by Zachary Levenson is associate professor of sociology at Florida International University. 

EDITED TO ADD (in case some miss my comment)

Imagine the following scenario: You’re teaching Introduction to Sociology at a community college in Florida, and today, you’re trying to explain the well-documented pay gap between men and women in the United States. You check the guidance you just received from your dean, who received instructions via email from the executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System. The instructions state explicitly that explaining “unequal outcomes between men and women” in terms of “institutional sexism” would violate state law.

Big Shell Beach convergence zone. Padre Island National Seashore. IIRC according to an old roommate who was studying the geology of the barrier island while going to school to be a marine biologist, this part of the Texas coast is some sort of place where long currents push stuff here from both the south and the north depending on the season. Shellbanks like this are a result of the convergence. Something like 3/4 of the beach in this area is made up of shells and then just covered in with windblown sand. The tidal action has exposed the underlying shells here, showing why its actually called Big Shell Beach. Its normally covered over, with just a shell or two peeking out.

This part of the beach is just lousy with shells currently in case you missed it. Southern Quahogs, Giant Atlantic Cockles, Coquina Clams, Lightning Whelks, Lettered Olives. I have a book of shells endemic to the area and those were the ones I could identify easily before just getting lost in the sheer number of shells. If you are into beach combing this place has so many shells its overwhelming. I spent an hour here alone before remembering I still had miles of beach to go. Further north from here is Little Shell Beach with the same shell composition, just smaller shells due to the way the currents flow.

Its mind blowing that this stretch of shells is visible this week and next week it will be under a foot or two of sand and somewhere else nearby the shells will peek out like this. I venture this shoreline a lot beachcombing and it is never the same. Its appealing.

Most people mistakenly assume that police solve crimes on a daily basis. According to University of Utah law professor Shima Baughman's research, just 11% of significant crimes end in an arrest and 2% in a conviction. A significant proportion of serious crimes usually remain unsolved.

What are police doing instead? Most cops spend between 46% and 81% of their time on “unassigned” duties, such as eating lunch or filling out paperwork. And when they’re on patrol, cops playing with their phones has become such a problem that even Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop himself, has expressed his “frustration.” Two weeks after the subway shooting, Adams asked New Yorkers to send him photos of officers using their phones while on duty. “We are going to start taking very aggressive actions to make sure police are patrolling our subway system and not patrolling their iPhone,” the mayor warned.

Post your results and discuss your guesses. Have fun!
Note: there will be spoilers in the thread, so try it first.

Smashing Pumpkins - Bodies → Mother Mother - Body of Years

I got good info about the amount of war equipment and the stuff they are prepping. Lots of bunker busters are heading out pretty soon. This is all the info i can give. Mile long trains of humvees , medic trucks, tanks and fuel trucks headed east. So don't expect this to end anytime soon

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44182750

March 4, 2026

Forty countries gathered in The Hague on Wednesday to discuss coordinated measures aimed at enforcing international law in Palestine, as governments warn that Israel’s expanding settlement activity in the occupied West Bank amounts to de facto annexation.

The meeting, co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia and convened under the umbrella of The Hague Group, brought together governments from across the Global South and beyond to seek ways to translate political statements into concrete state action.

Founded in January 2025, The Hague Group was established to coordinate international legal responses to Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and its genocide in Gaza.

For several days in a row, the White House has posted videos on X of the U.S.’s strikes on Iran spliced with footage taken from video games and action movies, in a dystopic form of propaganda that treats the war like a game or like social media content to be mined. On Friday, the White House account shared a video that began with a popular meme from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas…

I thought this post was a great idea, so decided to copy it! This is my Pixel 8 Pro with GrapheneOS, some highlights are:

• Most apps installed via Obtainium, except for banking apps etc that have to come from Google Play
• Setter search bar
• Quik SMS app
• Pipepipe for watching Youtube
• Lawnchair launcher
• FairEmail email app
• Dailer, Contacts, Calendar from Fossify