Mastodawn

Robert Kowalenko Apr 27, 2023

Helen Czerski Apr 26, 2023

In the late 1800s, when steam ships were replacing sailing cargo ships, one of the last roles for the sailing ships was to carry coal around the world to supply ports where steamships wanted to go. A clean technology was essential to enable the growth of a dirty technology. And even today, fossil fuels aren’t magically just everywhere. A gigantic *** 40% *** of global shipping is just moving fossil fuels. So eliminating fossil fuel also drastically cuts global shipping emissions. #climate #ships

Robert Kowalenko Apr 26, 2023

Recently watched Žižek's "The Pervert's Guide to Ideology", and I grudgingly have to admit I found it worthwhile & entertaining. Žižek certainly is razor-sharp, talented, & interesting, and I often thought "now that's potentially quite a deep insight!"...
Then I realised he never cites evidence or even reasons for his assertions, it's all just a plausible narrative. That he could just as well say the exact opposite, and I'd find it interesting, too.
That's how it is with all critical theory.

Robert Kowalenko Apr 14, 2023

Show thread

Laura Apr 8, 2023

From Douglas Adams:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.

2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

Robert Kowalenko Jan 19, 2023

this 👉
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2023-01-19-hilton-trollip-mantashe-like-mbeki-uses-science-denialism-for-political-machinations/

HILTON TROLLIP: Mantashe, like Mbeki, uses science denialism for political machinations

In our technological world it is crucial to know what is scientific and what is not

Business Day

Robert Kowalenko Jan 18, 2023

Robert Reich Jan 18, 2023

RT @[email protected]

Do I have this right: Republicans added ~$7 trillion to the national debt under Trump, but now they want to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare before raising the debt ceiling?

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1614820819753992192

Robert Reich on Twitter

“Do I have this right: Republicans added ~$7 trillion to the national debt under Trump, but now they want to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare before raising the debt ceiling?”

Twitter

Robert Kowalenko Jan 18, 2023

Citation analysis…. Not sure if it’s right for philosophy. Almost nobody cited Frege until he was dead. His own university didn’t even know it had the greatest logician after Aristotle in its ranks (he never rose to the top of his own profession).
Outlier? Perhaps

Robert Kowalenko Dec 17, 2022

Where does the whole theory of 'bodies that carry inscriptions,' etc. originate from?

Robert Kowalenko Dec 16, 2022

This is Kiev's "The Blitz" moment... it will forge the memory and identity of 1 or 2 generations.
The Russian mega-idiots (maga-idiots?) couldn't have created a more implacable enemy south of their border if they had tried. Русский мир.. the Russian World, ha, you've just destroyed it forever.

Robert Kowalenko Dec 16, 2022

Mastodon Migration Dec 16, 2022

Public Service Warning

Mastodon has a very big surge of new users right now. There's no way to tell if it will be sustained, but at this early point it looks similar to Nov 18 when Musk pulled the employee purge.

It is very challenging for system administration to accommodate so many new users. If your server starts to struggle, it is not broken and will get sorted out.

We're all in this together. It's our social network. Be patient. What we are building is amazing.

#twittermigration

Robert Kowalenko Dec 16, 2022

A good, objective, outsider's account of South Africa's PhalaPhala scandal, or "Farmgate", involving the president and the ANC.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/world/africa/south-africa-president-ramaphosa-farmgate.html

Will the African National Congress Buy President Ramaphosa’s Alibi?

A bizarre scandal threatens to topple President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa from leadership of the African National Congress, which begins its party conference on Friday. Will A.N.C. members buy his astonishing account?