mpborts.bsky.social
Probably not social enough for social media
584 posts
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Slight counterpoint: The Satanic Panic never went away -- they were sufficiently ridiculed that they got quiet for a while.
But yeah, a million percent a moral panic based on a melange of misinformation and bigotry.
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As she's a better writer than me, "What the Court once
recognized as an imperative check against discrimination,
it today abandons."
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Sotomayor also points out in her dissent that this ruling would seem to contradict Loving, where the Virginia legislature also claimed that the "science" of whether interracial marriage was damaging was claimed to be in doubt. Then, SCOTUS did its job. Now, they defer to bigotry.
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Finally, peppers grow slowly and then all at once. My hot peppers have been outside for over a month now, but have not shown visible signs of growth until recently. Once it gets *hot*, you'll see sudden growth. Oh! If you're accustomed to pruning tomatoes, don't do that with peppers. More is better.
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You want a decent amount of nitrogen in your soil when growing peppers, but there's evidence that synthetic fertilizers promote quick leaf growth and stunt overall plant health -- think of it like a sugar high. Compost, coffee grounds, and composted coffee grounds are great ways to get more nitrogen
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Depending on how cold it is by you, when it's time to transplant, let the peppers spend a few afternoons outside and a few nights in a garage or similar space. This will prevent them from getting as shocked by the colder outdoor weather.
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If you can, get a light that is not too far away from the top of the soil -- peppers get leggy if there is not enough light and leggy peppers don't have enough strength in their stems to support leaves and fruit. If the light is close, the pepper will stay relatively compact and short indoors.
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If you are starting from seed, get everything set up indoors 6-8 weeks before your last frost date based on your zone. In zone 5, last frost is around May 14, so I usually start my peppers by April.
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Heat is huge. These are central american plant originally and they expect warm soil. If you can afford a heating mat, get one. If you can't be bothered, put them on top of your fridge. The heat off of it and the elevation will both make the soil slightly warmer.
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I find that soil that retains moisture better than seed starter helps improve the odds of germination -- I'm no botanist, but I've just assumed the seed needs a little more moisture in order to start poking its head out.
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Peppers are terrible at germinating relative to other common plants. The seed casing seems thick and if it's not buried deep enough, it might stay on the seedling and prevent the baby leaves from getting light.
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I'm not certain about your growing zone, but I'll guess that you are in an area that's around a zone 5, like me. Decent sun and summer heat, but nothing like the south. If that's true, the biggest problem should be germination.
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Might depend on which part, but if you start the peppers indoors, I can attest that you can grow them well in southern NE
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Do you want pepper tips or would you prefer to wing it? Both can be fun as long as you're ok with learning through low or no yields.
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This is not an argument in favor of complacency, mind you.
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And not to be a game-theory type, but look at how sloppy the work put out by these people has been. They are trying to rush things, making critical mistakes along the way, since they realize their power is temporary and they will be in a precarious position once it's gone. Time is not on their side.
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So much icing I got diabetes
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If the JK has hair, she'll give you a scare. If the JK is bald, you'll watch him enthralled
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I read the article and certainly came away with the impression that this is a moderation issue. But you're much more knowledgeable on the topic than me.
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Fair enough. I mean the so what in the sense of "Smaller companies face many types of regulatory burdens which may slow or limit their geographic expansion all the time." But I didn't want to write all that before biking home.
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It's surely the companies' right not to be active in a place where they find regulation burdensome, but is it really more profitable to skip out on a populous country with a growing economy than to implement content moderation? A small outfit might wait to enter the market, but so what?
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*whispers* It's a better movie. Synth score, Broderick, and all.
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I adore grackles as well, but they make me apprehensive now. I've lost count of the times my wife has told me that we have grackles in our yard, only for me to come to the window and see starlings, flying hellspawn that they are.
Grackles rule.
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The man is a top-tier agent of chaos and a delight no matter who he plays for, so I say keep it. The business is just business.
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Also, don't you think Jeff Hafley seems a little *too* nice in his media avails? You can't trust people who seem too nice. I've always said it.
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I just think it's really important for teams to understand that OCs who didn't call plays never work out. Also LaFleur's a genius and the only reason the Packers are good and not the guy who molds 5th round picks into starting tackles.
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With liberty and justice for those who can afford it
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Good luck! Propranolol is impossible to say, but I didn't hate it.
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If the protesters really want to show their patriotism, they should ditch the Red and Black flag and wave the white flag of the restored Bourbons
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But that's my opinion. As I said yesterday, getting hard data would be difficult and would require research. Alas, the feds are cancelling the social sciences that are best suited to look at this to get an answer.
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So while I want to credit FIRE with being slightly better than I thought, I still think they create a false impression that schools censor conservative faculty more than the states censor schools or their employees. I think one is far worse and far less covered. Which, I believe, was the point.
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And while this supposed ban is listed, I see nothing from when the Iowa regents ordered their schools to censor their websites of the terms "DEI", "Diversity", "Equity", or "Inclusion".
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Maybe this is just me, since I'm not a first amendment absolutist, but that seems totally reasonable and a part of a good civic education. Of course students still *can* say whatever they want (there was no suggestion this was a true ban), but learning about responsibility is good too.
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The district itself made that clear in a statement which does not appear on FIRE's website, "This process engaged students in critical discussions about the meaning, context, and intent of commonly used slang and expressions, promoting empathy and awareness of how language affects others."
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See this article about an Iowa Social Studies teacher supposedly banning words in the classroom. As a person who has been a dirtbag kid, this supposed list of banned words seems like a cheeky way to get students to stay productive and create a conducive learning environment for all students.
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This article does a great job of summarizing some. My personal impression is that FIRE is altogether too credulous of right-wing claims of censorship on campus, and not attentive enough to people in power actually restricting speech.
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One would be forgiven for saying it's not possible to see and raise awareness about every case. I would agree with that if not for the fact that FIRE has trumpeted several cases that started as causes célèbres in the far-right fever swamps - even when it appears that it has nothing to do with speech
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But I didn't see any FIRE statements or records about the cases of Tiffany Cross (, Katherine Franke, or Anne d'Aquino -- all who credibly claim they lost their jobs over conservative smear campaigns regarding protected speech.
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True to my word, I've looked for some cases that undoubtedly reflect my own biases. I was happy to see statements from FIRE about the USC valedictorian who wasn't allowed to give a speech and regarding UNC's tenure decision for Nikole Hannah-Jones. I didn't contemporaneously see these.
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As I am not a Free Speech organization I do not possess any such thing. But let me come back to this when I have time and check whether certain events have been covered equally. I'll respond more (and if appropriate apologize) later.
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I promise, I'm not being a dick, but this rather misses the point. Maybe I made it poorly. I do believe FIRE exhibits a disproportionate focus on conservative speech, which I would not be able to prove without a database of all speech disruption events.
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A cursory look at your website could not possibly confirm this as it will only show the events about which FIRE *does* speak out. The (in my opinion valid) criticism is that the percentage of events targeting conservative FIRE speaks about is much higher than the equivalent % of liberal speech.
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News organizations can't be in the habit of employing reporters who say true things, after all.
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Deranged, stubborn optimism is a vibe I would enjoy seeing more often
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Many people do not understand, but this is what peak masculine energy really looks like.
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This is art
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You're my favorite Nate.