Notices by eswillwalker (els@sfba.social)

@Salon No, not all of us have survived the first 100 days. For example, three people died of measles, a completely preventable disease. https://www.salon.com/2025/05/01/when-facts-become-seditious-its-time-to-hit-the-panic-button/

Lots of gray whales in San Francisco Bay this week.

@mcnado I know you know, but you are misleading people with your metaphor. The process you describe is not about bacteria “learning.” Learning is a process by which individuals change in response to experience. Evolution is a process by which populations change in response to experience.

You are describing evolution by natural selection against the more susceptible bacteria. The natural selection is caused by the antibiotic in their environment.

The most important sentence in this article is ignored by its author:
“Having constructed the rink during the go-go years following the Second World War, the city then let it decay.”

And, that problem is not the fault of progressives.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/why-nothing-works-marc-dunkelman/681407/

Every day, I check the @NWS website for the local weather forecast and every day, I worry about whether it will be there tomorrow.
https://forecast.weather.gov/

A lovely quiet weekend kayak camping on Angel Island with two groups of friends.

It got a little damp this morning, but the paddle back was glorious.

@kingrat Cool! For the moment, just to see how the thing works, I’ve signed up to pixey.org, but I will be happy to switch to sfba.photos/ when it gets up and running.

Hey SFBA.social, on which pixelfed server should I get an account?

@skinnylatte There should be a clause in the H1B visa that anyone who works in the US on an H1B visa for five years automatically gets a green card. This would solve the "indentured servitude" problem (which a friend of mine is stuck in because his company pays him poorly and keeps delaying on its promise to help him get a green card).

@pluralistic The fact that artists MUST make art, which makes them terribly exploitable, is also true of scientists. We MUST explore and investigate our particular niche of science. This also makes us terribly exploitable, especially when what we learn about our niche is not easily exploited for profit.
https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/21/blockheads-r-us/#vocational-awe

Private profits over people’s health and well-being: This is what happens when health care operates under capitalism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/business/pharmacy-benefit-managers-opioids.html

@soaproot @_elena @Sunny Agreed. I use almost no apps. Everything via browser. The companies are always pushing their apps, but I just say NO!

@BackFromTheDud @MattMerk @inthehands It's interesting that those are the names that go down in history. The loud mouthed get remembered for what they did not create, but did promote.

@MattMerk @pluralistic
This!!: “ By tricking you into thinking of yourself as a "consumer" who benefits from low prices, they get you to stop thinking of yourself as a worker who suffers from low wages.”

@kingrat I brought at TV home from my mom’s place after she passed away shortly before the onset of COVID. It has never been plugged in and still sits in a corner with stuff draped over it.

@drell @are0h @mmasnick How does bluesky make money? What’s in it for them?