@marc_w@union.place
@marc_w@union.place avatar

marc_w

@marc_w@union.place

Retired #MathTeacher, #Union contract negotiator and treasurer, married, father of a wildlife biologist and an astrophysicist.

I currently prepare #fossils and help maintain the #herpetology collection at my local #NaturalHistoryMuseum, and lead public hikes through the deserts, mountains, and along the coast of #SanDiego, California.

When I was born, atmospheric CO2 was 316 ppm.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

If we lived in a decent nation, we could give all children free breakfast and lunch at school and use those meals to teach them about nutrition. They could use locally sourced food.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@StillIRise1963

Some states offer free breakfasts and inches to all students. Those aren’t the states that natter on about “protecting unborn children” and “parents’ rights”, though.

mekkaokereke, to random
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

🤔

  1. There are Instagram accounts posting content today that would prompt many Mastodon admins to defederate immediately.

  2. Those accounts are not being moderated by Instagram. User reports are closed without action. So their Threads version of those accounts will likely also not be moderated.

  3. So many Mastodon admins will defederate from Threads shortly after federation.

So I'm not sure why folks are spending so much time debating whether defederating before the inevitable harm is bad?

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@misc @mekkaokereke

Would you trust Mete to protect your data just because they said they would?

GW, to random
@GW@newsie.social avatar

Experts panic over Florida tourism as major conventions flee state’s 'unfriendly political environment'

Convention organizers are pulling out of Florida

When asked for a reason why they were scrapping plans, one organizer wrote simply: “Governor DeSantis.”

Thousands of dollars are also being lost by restaurants and attractions by visitors going elsewhere.

...Community Schools Conference – it also pulled out of more than 2,000 hotel rooms.

https://www.alternet.org/experts-panic-over-florida-tourism-as-major-conventions-flee-state-s-unfriendly-political-environment-2662247798/

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@GW

Too bad the deplorables will never recognize the link between them voting for racist fascists and getting laid off.

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Which of the following do you consider to be "bugs"

"Bug" is not a scientific clade, or well-defined group. So, there are probably no wrong answers.

Check all that apply!

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@futurebird

None of those are bugs.

mekkaokereke, to random
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

While we're talking about affirmative action, legacy admissions, and college athletic scholarships, here's something that most US folks won't agree with (yet), but that is the only thing that makes sense:

College sports athletic scholarships should be abolished. All of them.

They do much more harm than good. They don't make college accessible for poorest athletes. They make it less accessible.

A scholarship is only worth ~$40K a year of tuition. But it prevents you from earning over $100K?

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@mekkaokereke

I don’t like the whole college sports thing we do here. Most colleges have rec leagues for students who enjoy the activity and that’s great. Why not stop there?

Some will say that I’d be depriving poor kids the chance at a college education. It doesn’t have to be that way. We could make college free for anyone who keeps their grades up, and lack of athletic talent wouldn’t stand in anyone’s way.

ephemeromorph, to random
@ephemeromorph@topspicy.social avatar

Holy shit. We knew the Titan was fucked, but I didn't realise it was this Super Fucked.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fnews%2Fa-reporter-at-large%2Fthe-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen

  • The satellite beacon was zip-tied to the outside
  • The carbon fibre was already fraying/delaminating
  • No other sub companies use carbon fibre because it's clownshoes
  • The safety engineer refused to sign off on the sub, because it was donkey poop, so Stockton Rush fired him
  • Stockton Rush asked the accountant to be the pilot. She quit because that was a bananapants proposal.
marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@ephemeromorph

That bond between the carbon fiber cylinder and the titanium ends…the carbon fiber and the titanium weren’t ever going to compress the same. Something nasty had to be happening there with every cycle.

Right-wing capitalist whining about too much regulations would be building cars and rockets and stuff with the same safety standards if we let them…

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

Maybe when a bunch of trans people are being denied medical treatment and having to flee their home is not the time to post tone-deaf shit like "the fascists are everywhere so you should stay where you are and fight fascism there"

Like I get the sentiment but parents shouldn't stick around where the state will steal their trans kids and then perform torture (conversion therapy) on them. Nor should people be expected to stay somewhere where state actors want to murder them specifically

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@eniko

Who would tell an enslaved Black person in 1845 not to escape to Canada but to stay in Alabama and fight against slavery there?

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@eniko @Talulla

The dangerous places to live are the same as places with cheaper housing and lower wages, exactly why so many can’t see a way to move. Those people don’t have the $10,000 on hand to pay first+last+deposit plus food while they look for a job on the west coast.

This is why basic human rights are supposed to be the same across the nation.

Jedigirl, to random

I'm definitely option 2.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@Jedigirl

My tuition and fees at SDSU totaled $72 per semester. I’d say I’m in the this category: When kids today say it’s different, it’s harder now than it was for us, they are correct. I never had to go through what they’re going through.

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

As someone who fully divested from twitter despite being reliant on it early in 2023 I'm here to tell you that you can, in fact, just not use twitter. You can go all in on mastodon. In fact, it'll probably make mastodon work better for you if you do

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@eniko

Just add these lines to your hosts file and twitter will never bother you again.

127.0.0.1 twitter.com
127.0.0.1 www.twitter.com

ivy, to random

it can't be that easy

its that easy

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@ivy @kkarhan

I always leave windows on my new machines and dual boot so I have window in case I ever need it. Then years go by and I realize I’ve never booted the windows partition.

I’ve done that three times now.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@kkarhan @ivy @ubuntu

Last time I tried that, it was a bit slow…almost like Windows.

kevinrns, to climate
@kevinrns@mstdn.social avatar

Canada's Catastrophic Wild Fires Are Beyond A Warning.

Climate chaotic collapse is here.
100 Years Early.

#Climate collapse is not "moving to a warmer room"
Climate destruction is a bus beginning to fall down a hill.

This graph is murder scene.

2023 Forest Fire season.

It shows that UNLIKE Previous Fire Seasons, 2023 began mid Spring, not during the heat of July.

Rising to over twice as high as previous Fire Seasons, -> Before the coming July heat when the Fire crisis will increase.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@kevinrns @reneestephen @keelan

I’m building the largest solar system that will fit on my roof, twice as large as would meet my current needs. Ain’t much in the big picture, but it’s what I can do.

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Medicare for All would save $450B a year.

Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.

Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.

It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.

It’s about priorities.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@rbreich

Too many people are afraid one person will get more than they deserve. I worry that millions aren’t getting getting as much as they need.

marc_w, to queer
@marc_w@union.place avatar

#LGBTQIA

marc_w, to random
@marc_w@union.place avatar

#FossilFriday #Paleontology

Leptoreodon,
46-42 mya
San Diego County

This would have looked something like a small deer but is more closely related to camels.

fraying, to random
@fraying@xoxo.zone avatar

My fellow cis Americans, I want you to look at this map. Really look at it. And I want you to imagine what it would feel like if those red states were threatening you and your family. Because, ultimately, they are.

This is what creeping fascism looks like. It will harm ALL OF US. And it will take all of us, together, to fight it.

We don't sacrifice people. We stand with our trans siblings. When their rights are threatened, all our rights are threatened.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/may-anti-trans-legislative-risk-map

🏳️‍⚧️

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@fraying

#TransRights are not a separate set of rights, they are just the first people threatened with the loss of rights we all need and deserve. If our #trans friends lose the right to appropriate medical care as determined by their medical professionals, are anyone’s safe? If our #trans friends lose rights to education, housing, jobs, families, are any of us really safe?

My rights stand or fall with the rights of my trans friends.

marc_w, to random
@marc_w@union.place avatar

Imagine a conquistador jumping off a boat into the surf, striding onto the beach, planting a flag and claiming all the land, resources, and people for his king.

Cookies are a capitalist version of that flag on your computer.

marc_w, to fediverse
@marc_w@union.place avatar

#FossilFriday

American #Mastodon femur

Green_Footballs, to random
@Green_Footballs@mastodon.social avatar

Have to admit I was not a supporter of Joe Biden at the start of this presidential era, but he’s been a lot better than I expected. With a few notable exceptions in which he acted exactly as I expected.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@Green_Footballs

On the other hand, Trump would have met all our expectations by being worse than we expected no matter how bad we expected him to be.

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

Still reading and hearing takes that Mastodon has “failed” as a Twitter alternative. Listen, it’s ok if it doesn’t work for someone—unlike Twitter, I think Mastodon requires more effort and cultivation to produce an experience that feels meaningful. It’s been worth it for me. But there is definitely a smell of…not sour grapes but people making broad assumptions based on their own experience while ignoring millions of other people. Will Mastodon top 100 million? Who knows. Who cares?

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@glennf

Mastodon fails as an alternative to Twitter exactly like a Toyota Prius fails as an alternative to a dumpster fire. They're not the same thing, not supposed to be the same thing, and we already have more Twitters and dumpster fires than we need.

neil, to internet

I appreciate that this is going to upset some people, and I thought I was too shy to say it, but I prefer over :

Here's why:

https://neilzone.co.uk/bluesky_over_mastodon.html

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@neil

Damn...

stevesilberman, (edited ) to random
@stevesilberman@newsie.social avatar

Who could imagine that , who's spent decades framing + folk as "groomers," namechecking Harvey Milk's assassin in his yearbook, and whipping up panic against folks, has a thing for 14-year old girls?

From Abby Grossberg v. FoxNews: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23787336-complaint-abby-grossberg-v-fox-news-et-al

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@stevesilberman

I'm glad his daughter goes to a boarding school. I doubt she looks forward to school vacations.

mmitchell_ai, to random
@mmitchell_ai@mastodon.social avatar

Me and others [predominantly women]: "here are good examples of what bias looks like in generative systems"
[Predominantly white men]: "Yeah well you would not have had those examples if you would have done <more involved thing and exactly not the point>"
Gosh this work is tiring.

marc_w,
@marc_w@union.place avatar

@mmitchell_ai

Let me explain this to you...sometimes we're idiots.

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