Zompist Bboard Again

Richard W wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 7:06 am

bradrn wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 6:32 am

Lērisama wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2026 3:18 am ⁸ If the school has no religious character, it must put on daily Christian-ish worship, get special permission not to, or break the law.

Seriously??

Well, I don't recall the requirement being repealed for England.

It's not been repealed, but it isn't enforced and mostly ignored, although various secular groups are very annoyed about it. I actually don't mind it that much, given that basically no non religious school actually follows it, and mind a lot more about the very large number of Christian schools, because in many places every state school in the area, especially primary schools, are Christian, and so it's very difficult to avoid indoctrination¹.

¹ Many primary schools aren't that good at making it clear that X is a matter of belief, and 5 is quite young to work this out yourself. I know someone brought up in an atheist household who went to one that took its Christianity particularly seriously and was Christian until their mid teens because of this. Once you get a bit older they get better at explaining this, but it's precisely when the children are youngest that the most damage is done.

malloc wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 9:45 pm Planning on attending a No Kings protest this weekend and just need to decide what my sign should say. I think something simple and specific like "No war with Iran".

Given the attack on Iran, I was tempted to make a sign quoting The Princess Bride: "The first one is, never get involved in a land war in Asia!" That seems a bit glib, however.

For the last No Kings protest, I made a sign that read "Compassion - Not Cruelty; Knowledge - Not Ignorance; Laws - Not Kings!” It's probably too wordy for a protest sign, but it expressed what I was feeling at the time.

We will be attending our local protest this weekend; I wanted to make a new sign, but I don't have much time to spare, so we may bring our previous signs and/or make new ones when we get there (since the organizers provide some sign-making materials - posterboard, markers, etc.).

Glenn wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 5:52 am
For the last No Kings protest, I made a sign that read "Compassion - Not Cruelty; Knowledge - Not Ignorance; Laws - Not Kings!”

Wow, that's really great! How could you sum up my worldview so well?

malloc wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 9:45 pm Planning on attending a No Kings protest this weekend and just need to decide what my sign should say. I think something simple and specific like "No war with Iran".

Glad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).

Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 1:31 pm Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.

That's part of why I think stopping these people is so fucking important. They're trying to declare pathological sociopathy the normal state of mind.

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 1:31 pm Trying to argue/gaslight that empathy is evil and toxic is perhaps one of the most insidious things the far right is doing.

I saw once in my youtube feed some person trying to use philosophy bullshit to explain why empathy isn't always good and that it can be "toxic" and "manipulative"

And of course there is that book "Toxic Empathy"

I don't think they understand empathy.

It just all sounds like excuses for why you don't want to care about people being killed en masse. Trying to justify selfish apathy or downright antipathy.

It's easily explained: empathy is for weak snivelling people, not Proper Masculine Manly Men Who Deserve To Rule.

linguistcat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).

Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm

linguistcat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).

Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.

Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.

Travis B. wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm

linguistcat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:45 amGlad you're taking action! This is a good sign (pun intended).

Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.

Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.

Spring can be weird.

Raphael wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2026 12:28 am

Travis B. wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:47 pm

Hopefully the weather is good. Today was astonishingly hot, around 36°C or 97°F, which is incredible considering it's only March.

Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.

Spring can be weird.

Quite. This morning it was only 5°C or 40°F.

malloc wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2026 9:22 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2026 12:28 am

Travis B. wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:47 pm
Wait a second, you got that kind of weather today? Here in southeastern Wisconsin we got 40's F and rain.

Spring can be weird.

Quite. This morning it was only 5°C or 40°F.

we got a light snow over lunch break here in northeastern Wyoming. it didn't stick, (probably because it was 10°C / 50°F,) but it nonetheless came as quite a shock after the past week of 25°C / 80°F.

/ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/ wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2026 7:36 pm we got a light snow over lunch break here in northeastern Wyoming. it didn't stick, (probably because it was 10°C / 50°F,) but it nonetheless came as quite a shock after the past week of 25°C / 80°F.

We got snow on Thursday here in Luxembourg, though the temperatures haven't been as warm (more ~16-17ºC the week before). But spring is often a strange season wherever you go: temperamental weather and roller-coaster temperatures. (And where my mother lives, pollen out the wazoo.)

If your logistics provider for a purchase is SpeedX, select another option or go elsewhere. I ordered something that shipped 67 days ago and it’s been sitting in Illinois for almost two months; I initiated a dispute and the merchant hasn’t been able to get in contact with them for weeks.

Man in Space wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2026 1:19 pm If your logistics provider for a purchase is SpeedX, select another option or go elsewhere. I ordered something that shipped 67 days ago and it’s been sitting in Illinois for almost two months; I initiated a dispute and the merchant hasn’t been able to get in contact with them for weeks.

And you're not the only person with trouble with SpeedX either...

https://youtu.be/3lAKdU_RsJY

A review of Hangul for French!

Happy hundred and eighth birthday to Elemtilas. That is quite a remarkable achievement.

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2026 8:35 pm Happy hundred and eighth birthday to Elemtilas. That is quite a remarkable achievement.

A good question is whether phpBB allows people to be older than 126 years old.

Today I learned that Albert Hammond, though he's lived in the States for a very long time, is originally Gibraltarian of all things. Really, I could have sworn that the lyrics of "It Never Rains In California" and especially "Free Electric Band" were written by someone who grew up in the USA.