ALT

this is a part of the problem

you need to be able to explain why you shouldnt use ai rather than “oh well its obviously bad and you shouldnt use it or else youre a bad person” because that isn’t logic. “ai generates child porn based off of real children and whether or not it does is entirely up to how it is built and if pedophiles are able to find ways around those safeguards, because ai cannot in itself discern right from wrong” is a genuine criticism. “amazon tried to build a data center the size of tuson outside of tuson just to power their ai that would’ve increased the inability to stay alive outside in parts of arizona” is a genuine criticism. even “using generative ai teaches you not to learn how to do things yourself even when they’re difficult, devaluing necessary skills out of practice” is a genuine criticism when you look at the amount of people who think they are able of doing a difficult major when they couldnt write their own papers in high school.

but “ai is just bad because it’s bad” will convince no one and is a morally lazy position to take. about anything!

you need to know why reading someone’s diary is wrong if you want to learn about privacy and respect. you need to know why child sexual assault is wrong if you want to be able to help children form healthy age appropriate relationships. you need to know why capitalism is bad if you want to replace it with something else. you need actual concrete ideas and ideologies rather than “you should agree with me because i have the right vibe”

The thing about Denethor is that he not only succumbed to despair, he wanted to ensure that Faramir succumbed with him. Similarly, a lot of people now are not only succumbing to despair, they're actively proselytizing despair, trying to convince others to join them in their hopelessness. Despair is apparently lonely and they want company in their self-immolation.

btw denethor succumbed to despair bc he was doomscrolling on the palantir. Sauron tweaked his algorithm so he only saw bad news, and he fell into the trap of thinking the world couldn't be saved.

Most non-Minnesotans have no idea what this means, but to put it plainly: we're raised with not just the expectation but essentially -programming- to assist others who get stuck during the winter. We'll help people we'd otherwise punch on sight if they're stuck in the snow and ice, for zero reward.

This is the level of rage we're at with ICE. I'm not joking to say it's almost physically painful to not help someone stuck like that, and it's worth it because the people stuck are ICE.

The only way we have to express how mad we are above this is channeling the First Minnesota all over again.

The Scandinavians who settled in Minnesota brought with them their Norse understanding of the laws of hospitality: you do not fuck around with winter, that if someone needs help in the winter, you help them as long as they don't actively try to hurt you or your neighbors. Food, shelter, labour, whatever, if you can help in winter, you do.

ICE has violated the "actively try to hurt you or your neighbors" bit of the laws of hospitality, and thus the hospitality has been revoked. They are free to feel winter's wrath against those who would bring harm to the community.

I like to think that Lady Skaði would be proud of her distant children.

this reminds me of the mud wizard who walked through everything without any problems while the police officers kept sliding and falling and getting stuck, you can watch it right here.

for context, this was during anti-coal protests in lützerath which went on for days and included people being forcibly removed, injured, or otherwise violated by the police. they showed up in riot gear against people simply sitting and camping and wanting to protect their forests. it was a really big deal here.

An c.1000-1200 CE example of Egyptian cotton knitted socks.

I made a chart for it!

I realised while making it that the pattern on the sock isn't always symmetrical or identical, so I had to be a little creative. But I managed to get it pretty close, I think!

thoughts:

1) the egyptians wore socks??

2) the egyptians wore tube socks?????

3) mental image of egyptians now top half traditional imagery and bottom half 70s basketball player

4) multiple sections of the book of the dead are probably march madness brackets

5) i want these socks

Keep in mind the caption says 1000-1200 CE, not BCE. So these are closer to us than they are to Ancient Egypt.

corrections:

1) medieval egyptians wore socks??

2) medieval egyptians wore tube socks?????

3) mental image of medieval egyptians now top half fatimid vizier and bottom half 70s basketball player

4) multiple sections of ibn al-nafis’ theologus autodidactus are probably march madness brackets

5) i want these socks

Collating additional sources from the notes:

The sock's catalogue page from the George Washington University Textile Museum collections: https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/2960/ appended by @jeannetterankin

Further information from a wikipedia page (linked by @acepalindrome) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Islamic_sock.jpg that appears to quote a previous item description from the textile museum:

12th century sock possibly found in Fustat, Egypt.
The knitter of this sock started work at the toe and then worked up towards the leg. The heel was made last and then attached to loops formed while knitting the leg. This ingenious practice allowed the heel to be replaced when it wore out without the necessity of making new socks. The sock is thought to have been made in India because it was found with other materials exported from India and sold in the Egyptian market.
Indigo dyes most likely color the two rich blue cotton yarns used to make the pattern on the socks. The yarn would have been dipped into indigo dye repeatedly until the desired shade was achieved.

And a complete, slightly variant, (free to download!) Ravelry pattern by Jodi Dyck, found by @blunderpuff https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/egyptian-medieval-socks

Thank you for collating the information!! i went notes diving for exactly this!!!!!