fred-decker.bsky.social
Freelance writer, interested in almost everything (but I repeat myself). Was the kid who read encyclopedias for fun, now am the grownup who reads academic papers and follows smart people online.
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Huh. Caught myself feeling mildly resentful that they define "mid-life" as mid-30s to mid-40s, but most people kick off in their 70s and 80s so I guess that's valid.
Still feeling good about dropping 30 lbs in my 50s and keeping it off, anyway. :)
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(shrug) Maybe I'm an outlier, but I just can't carve out time in my day for videos or podcasts; they don't fit with how I do things. If your video or podcast doesn't have a transcript, I'm out. I can read the transcript of an hour-long pod in about 5 minutes, and the other 55 are all mine.
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Reminder they said this exact bull shit back then
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That's his response to people commenting that he has no balls.
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Or as the Dead Kennedys phrased it 40-ish years ago, "In the real Fourth Reich you'll be the first to go!"
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I currently live next door in New Brunswick, which is my sixth province (PEI is the only Atlantic province I haven't lived in). I still drive down every month to visit my mom and daughter.
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...including the Free French, Free Poles, troops from across the Empire, etc; and especially the saboteurs and Resistance fighters who helped prepare the path.
But it is worth remembering again that Canada punched above her weight in both World Wars.
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...planned objectives were achieved.
Obviously not an apples-to-apples comparison, because each landing faced its own unique circumstances (and Omaha was an unmitigated shit-show). And please understand that I'm not diminishing or demeaning the accomplishments of our Allies on that day...
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Columbia canceled my class on Race and Media, but I'm teaching it anyway.
All thanks to people power and community support-- especially from you all on Bluesky!
Happy to announce I'll be teaching Race Media and International Affairs 101 online-- hosted by D.C.'s MLK Jr. Memorial Library!
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...pretty normally today, despite my efforts to the contrary.
So now I'm not allowed to mow anymore until I have steel-toed footwear again. But I'm a big fan of ending my day with all the same bits I had in the morning, so I'll deal with it.
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...crucially, the "dead man" switch that stops the motor. So of course as I fell, the Blades o' Death struck the toes of my boots. The few brief moments it took to wrench off my boots were pretty suspenseful, I can assure you!
But it's all good, my toes were only bruised and I'm walking...
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If you're curious how this can happen, it's because I was backing up to take a second run at a patch of tall grass. I tripped over an unseen obstacle and fell backwards, and clinch-flinched as one does in such circumstances.
Which meant my hands tightened on the handle of the mower, and...
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"Competence..."
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Yup, that series is an interesting case study in character development and shifting social mores (or as it's denigrated now, "going woke"). There was a fascinating episode of "Ideas" on CBC about how many physicians went into medicine after watching MASH as kids (Alan Alda guested).
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Place tea in microwave to reheat (yes, I'm a barbarian).
Decide an hour later to have tea, spend five minutes looking for my cup, find it in the microwave. Repeat hourly.
Hence my term "Tea Storage Unit" for my office microwave.
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The #1 advice I give to all "preppers" who ask what to do to survive large scale disasters, is to throw a block party and get to know all your neighbors.
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I just finished reading them both for the first time. Brilliant stuff.
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Yup. Same principle that kept Apple afloat for a lot of its early, relatively lean years.
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Years ago I had a regular customer who was a plumber. The actual dollar amounts are immaterial now, but his business card had a rate chart that went "I do it: [x/hr]/you watch: [x+50%]/you help [2x]/you already tried to do it yourself: [3x]."
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I think there's a case to be made that since this involves the emoluments clause of the constitution, and since his oath of office requires him to uphold the constitution, any unconstitutional act cannot logically be an official act.
Disclaimer: IANAL
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Uh... just had one of the "young people" in my life turn 50. Ouch.
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Make it even simpler. "Biggest theft."