Politics

Haka erupts in Parliament before Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading

With the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti only halfway to Parliament, ACT leader David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill has gone through its first reading.

During the count of votes for and against the bill, Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke stood up from her seat starting a haka directed at Seymour, which her colleagues and MPs from the Greens and Labour joined. When people in the public gallery above joined in loudly, Speaker Gerry Brownlee suspended Parliament for an hour until the gallery was cleared.


Now I'm just envious. That was an awesome display of communal action.

What is science fiction?

When do new technological developments become 'realism' and not 'the future'? Writing about humans flying through the air in strange machines was once SF, but Snakes on a Plane isn't.

Discuss.

Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics

The November 5, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl made its $300 goal, so there will be a half-price sale in Polychrome Heroics from  Monday 18-Sunday 24.  Mark your calendars, and I hope to see you then. 

Creative Jam

The crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open with a theme of "Unconditional Love." Come give us prompts, or claim some for your own inspiration.


What I Have Written

"Earthlove" is this session's freebie.


From My Prompts

Jaguars

Here's a cool post about the biology and mythology of jaguars.

Birdfeeding

Today is sunny and cool.

I haven't fed the birds yet.  I've seen a flock of at least 20 goldfinches, mixed sparrows and house finches, and a tufted titmouse.  I saw a fox squirrel run through the trees and disappear into a knothole near the road.

I planted the blue false indigo today: one in the purple-and-white garden, one at the west end of the log garden, one in the wagonwheel garden, and two under saplings in the savanna.

There are a few small puddles in the road, so it must have rained a bit last night.

EDIT 11/16/24 -- I fed the birds.  They're swarming the feeders today. The thistle feeder was half empty and the suet feeder was empty, so I refilled those too.

I started transplanting small pots of hopefully wildflowers -- they didn't do well on the new picnic table.  I recognize the yarrow seedling and bergamot seedlings, but that's it. And the labels faded.  I need to look for a paint pen because Sharpie "permanent" marker is nowhere near permanent enough.

EDIT 11/16/24 -- I transplanted the rest of the small pots from the flats on the new picnic table.  \o/

EDIT 11/16/24 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

 

Gaming

My economic simulation of spacefaring kittens

Kittens Game is a clicker game that you can play in your browser. It makes a strong first impression, as it tempts you into choices that will kill off your kittens within twelve minutes. But I’m not here to review the game, I’m here to talk about spreadsheets!

Clicker games often support passive gameplay (e.g. leave it running overnight), active gameplay, or any combination of the above. On the very active end, you could try to optimize it, setting up spreadsheets to run calculations. So, I spent a thousand years tinkering with spreadsheets, and I liked it. There’s a story there, a mathematical story.


Gamers are nerds, and nerds often enjoy things that most people don't.  I have repeatedly seen nerds use advanced techniques just for the sake of figuring out how to get better results in a game.  When I was in high school, I knew kids who taught themselves statistics and probability so they could minmax their roleplaying characters.

Strikes

Canada Post workers go on strike, negotiations still underway

Canada Post workers went on strike early Friday after failing to reach an agreement with their employer, shutting down the corporation's mail service across the country.

( Read more... )

Pollution

The Big Baltic Bomb Cleanup

The ocean became a dumping ground for weapons after Allied forces defeated the Nazis. Now a team of robots and divers are making the Baltic Sea safer.

Humanity has still not really figured out that things dumped into the ocean stay there instead of "going away," but at least a few people are trying to clean up the mess.

Genocide

Israel’s war conduct in Gaza ‘consistent with the characteristics of genocide,’ UN Special Committee finds

“Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population,” the UN committee said in a press release.

“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” the committee said.

( Read more... )

Today's Smoothie

Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup Knudsen Lemon Ginger Echinacea juice
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup Wawona Organic Daybreak Blend (frozen peaches, mango, strawberry, pineapple)
1/2 cup ice

The result is pale pink, on the thin side, with a mild tropical flavor. It's not the most exciting mix we've made, but it tastes good.

Philosophical Questions: Justice

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.


What’s the difference between justice and revenge?

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