scoobdog

Nice.

You would have known that if you played fantasy ball with us.

It is. Unsurprisingly, President Folt isn't really playing with any of this because it's a bit much. That being said, USC also hasn't been transparent with the protestors about where their funds are invested and being forthcoming about that is really important even if it's not something that can be changed.

I don't want to get to personal with it. He's playing by a well established political playbook and, were it not for the fact that the IDF has proven to be wholly incompetent, his political instincts would be more of an academic point than anything.

Fuck. I mean, that checks out, but still.

I dunno man, I mean comparing me to that dude.... Aw hell. Apology accepted. *cranks up sound to ear splitting level*

Ok, now you're just being mean.

In the US, everything is heavily regulated, but a lot of swordfish comes from Mexico, where regulations aren't quite as good. It's especially true for fish that's imported into the middle of the country. You have a better shot of getting safer and responsibly caught fish on the coasts where you have a more direct line to local fisherman. Indeed. The key is that all three you mentioned are higher up the food chain. For similar reasons larger members of the tuna family (Pacific Blue or Yellowtail, for instance) have a higher risk of heavy metal because the primarily consume smaller fish and crustaceons that might be exposed to it though coastal toxic waste dumps or territorial water effluence. It's become less of an issue as first world nations have been taking a concerted effort to clean up their discharge and make improvements in stormwater mitigation. Still, in general, it's best to avoid the predator fish from pelagic waters unless you live close to the ocean. As an aside, Halibut is also a high level predator fish. However, it comes from colder waters, meaning its mostly harvested form areas where there is less toxic effluence.

UCLA is now threatening to clear out the protest encampment. I think Columbia’s escalation spooked them.

In USC's case, I don't know of anyone blatantly chanting for "global infitada" or anything genocidal. Someone did deface Tommy Trojan and the fountain in front of Doeheny, not with anything like that, but I don't believe a suspect was identified. The valedictorian who was scrubbed (Asna Tabassum) because of "safety" linked in an X or Instagram post to a website that purportedly called for the abolishment of the Jewish state, but I haven't been able to verify it and the fact the University didn't openly condemn her would suggest that might be a gross misrepresentation of what was on that site. That's all to say that USC likely won't punish any students for participating and likely won't press charges against any of the protestors that were arrested earlier.

It's disgusting, really. Private universities are worse because they don't have the state breathing down their necks every time someone in the community writes a strongly worded letter to the governor. They also tend to be in poorer or less developed neighborhoods at first and use their immense endowments to fund land grabs on cheap land. Palo Alto is a perfect example of that. Before Stanford went on its endowment blitz it was just an outlying suburb of San Jose bordering the marshes at the bottom of San Francisco Bay. Now those houses are multi-million.

Never get swordfish - it's not sustainably caught and, because its an apex predator, it also tends to be loaded with mercury from all the prey fish it eats.

I was able to find this: https://ugc.production.linktr.ee/63344e8e-21c4-427a-9ae2-7fc3c8c34fcb_DivestFromDeath.NewsRelease.pdf The demands are fairly similar. Items 2, 4 and 5 are highly problematic and likely unachievable: For reference the DPS is a basically an armed security service on the campus. They don't actually have police powers, hence the ultimate response by LAPD. UCLA, by comparison, has its own police department. It would be unreasonable to remove all policing from the USC campus. Cutting off study abroad programs actually runs counter to the university's mission. It's not only unreasonable, it doesn't really do anything about the Israeli government. Item four is actually an interesting point that deserves attention. USC has been buying up land around the main campus for years and its activities have directly led to displacement of residents in the area. While getting community approval for such land grabs is impossible and the idea of reparations is laughable, it is still something the university needs to address and plan for the community should be shared along with a serious expansion of affordable housing. It doesn't belong in a protest for Palestine, though.

I think it might be the same here at USC. Yesterday the president of the university recounted how the protestors left their meeting without considering it a win (her words). Up to this point I don't think an actual list of demands has been provided to the media, so it makes me wonder if they left that meeting in part because they don't entirely know what they want. To be clear, I'm not questioning their goal. It just seems like they have no real idea on how to achieve that, and that is a recipe for disaster.

It's predictable, at least. What hasn't gotten enough attention is how much of a despot Netanyahu is. He's like a one of the kings in the Torah - which is to say he's more or less acting like a Bronze Age warlord hiding behind religion to get what he wants, and what he wants more than anything now is to paint those speaking out against his ruthless behavior as antisemites because that's the easiest way for him to deflect blame. And we played into it by failing to give Pro-Palestinian rallies the proper context. You may have hears about an incident that happened here in the LA area where some old guy carrying an Israeli flag got in the face of a Palestinian supporter who promptly shoved him and caused him to hit his head and die. For weeks after that, pro Israeli supporters wanted the man to be charged with a hate crime, even though it was quite obvious that this was a volatile situation the ended tragically for two people. The fact of the matter is the local news should never have allowed those calls to be reported: it was the biased opinion of people who were not party to the investigation which, at this point, has not seemingly found any reason to call it a hate crime. All news organizations have been more interested in reporting how people are feeling or reacting than allowing that discourse to happen out on the streets, and that leads to a situation where opinions become rumors and fuel the fevered pitch of the debate. In general, the media, in a misguided attempt to be more open (and of course drawing eyeballs to the sensational reports), has made the mistake of blending in opinion with fact. That in turn allows stupid people to distrust reporting that, while otherwise balanced and fair, doesn't reflect their opinions. If a reporter shows up to the scene of house fire, why isn't there someone outside asking the question that every racist asks about there being too many illegals living in the house? It's utterly absurd, but that's the dynamic that's fueled the rise of Fox News and created the absurd idea that main stream media is somehow biased.

I got a twentieth, but I can't recall when and where it was supposed to be. They used some kind of service for emails and digital momentos. I still get the emails occasionally in my junk folder.

Happy Birthday!

Chappi’s a cool dude, though. Anyway, Happy Birthday,

Seen on the cargo deck of USS Enterprise 1701-D…. Riker: Look, Ikari, these away missions are what you trained for at the academy. Shinji: I don’t know, sir. We didn’t really talk about what happened after we landed. Riker: There’s no book for away missions. All those skills you learned are for these missions. You’re out there. Your senses are heightened. You can feel your pulse quicken. It’s time to stop thinking and becoming one with your…. Phaser. Asuka: Great. Data: There have been no reported readings of life signs on the surface in several cycles. Asuka: At least no one will see Shinji crying this time. Barclay: It’s okay Ensign, I see you. Geordi: What…? Shinji: This isn’t helping. Riker: Where’s your sense of adventure? You get to set foot on a planet that only a handful of living beings have laid eyes on. Shinji: Did they see anything? Riker: Sure Shinji: I’m not cut out to be a Security officer. Riker: You’ll be fine. Asuka: No, he won’t. Geordi: We’re going to miss the window for shuttle launch if this keeps up. Riker: Ensign Ikari, get in the shuttle. Shinji: *Whimpers* Asuka: Get in the shuttle, you coward. Shinji: I don’t wanna…. Riker: *Slaps Forehead * A nearby com chirps and a foreboding voice is heard. Gendo: I’ll handle this. Gendo: Shinji, get in the shuttle. Gendo: And clean up that pee spot.

She's an authoritarian hiding behind her oafish mannerisms, and authoritarians know how to make examples of creatures that are weaker than them. This kind of atrocious action plays very well to the fringe elements in Trump's orbit and to Trump himself, although the backlash likely pushed her out of contention. It's important to remember that authoritarians are fundamentally weak people with poor leadership skills that use charisma and brutality to compensate. Stories like the one she's recounted can be found in all the worst dictators in history, and they all made it into power despite these stories existing.

That’s sounds really depressing.

It’s just past midnight, so the ghost train is just leaving the station.

So Star Trek with the characters from NGE?

Nobody is saying that, and no serious pundit is suggesting that Immunity should be somehow limited. What they're debating is whether or not ex-President Trump should have immunity extended to him after he leaves office.