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  Guinea pigs. A mother and her three babies born just 8 hours ago! Shared by my bestie. #GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #Pets

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  https://share.google/JRcSpLMhIFQww4QYh Source: The Marginalian #AlbertCamus #JacquesMonod #Heroes #Genius #SeanBCarroll #Books #Bookstodon #MariaPopova

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  Guapo, my dog, has sensory issues. If a piece of debris like some grass gets stuck to a paw, he does a funny looking shake of that leg to get if off without stopping. This morning a tiny leaf fell on his back while we walked and he immediately turned his head to look and then shook it off. He also does not like walking on grass because of his delicate little paws, you know. 🙄 When the grass is wet he absolutely refuses to walk on it. So when we let him go into the backyard to do his business on...

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  Flowers seen on my morning trail hike. I was stung on my left ankle by a yellow-jacket wasp while minding my own business. #Flowers #Flora #Hiking #iPhonePhotography

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  I’m a “libtard”

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  Barack Obama gave us The Audacity of Hope. JD Vance and Donald Trump give us the audacity of misanthropes. https://abcnews.com/Politics/vance-praises-ramaswamy-audacity-run-controversial-amy-acton/story?id=137454653 #Audacity #USpolitics #Hope #Obama

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  Rewind your cassette tapes with a pencil. #1980sBucketList #HashTagGames

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  An army psychiatrist who committed a mass shooting at a military facility in Texas is to be executed by firing squad as recommended by Pete Hegseth and approved by Donald Trump. https://abcnews.com/US/pentagon-execute-convicted-fort-hood-mass-shooter-nidal/story?id=137019865

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  Opposition to bigotry is anti-religious in the opinion of this dolt. https://abcnews.com/Politics/threats-religious-liberty-alito-calls-same-sex-marriage/story?id=135817874

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  A political Halloween decoration seen in front of a neighborhood home on this morning’s dog walk. #Halloween #Politics #Texas

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  How To Win Over Some Conservatives? Forty years ago when I was in graduate school, I did field research on land owned by ranchers in south Texas. I think they were probably conservatives. But at that time, many Texas conservatives had a mind your own business mindset. They tolerated those with whom they disagreed. They might have liked vanilla ice cream and not understood why some people prefer chocolate ice cream—but they accepted it. They might have preferred a steak dinner to enchiladas—but...

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  1/7 Warning: Spoilers ahead. #AI #RichardPowers #Reading #Writing #Fiction #Bookstodon

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  Execution by firing squad to be live streamed. In his essay, ‘Reflections on the Guillotine,’ Albert Camus called for a return to public executions as a way to shock the conscience of the public and bring about the abolishment of capital punishment. I used to agree with Camus’ idea and the reasoning behind it. But in today’s USA, where depravity is a virtue in the eyes of many, execution is celebrated. https://abcnews.com/Politics/hegseth-hasan-execution-public/story?id=137110734 #CapitalPu...

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  My daughter who has schizophrenia and some paranoia bought an old and beat up Dell 960 desktop computer without a hard drive on eBay. She wants a legacy computer because she thinks it is more secure than a newer computer and it is pointless to try convincing her otherwise. After reseating the two loose memory cards, I was able to successfully boot up Linux Mint Cinnamon from a USB drive as shown in the attached image. I can access the Linux Mint menu using the Windows key, but for some reason a...

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  Bertrand Russell reportedly once said “the fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” Michael Desronvil, the lone juror who voted “guilty” in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, demonstrated Russell’s maxim by saying he "didn't have any doubts" that she knew what she was doing when she killed her children. Unless the other eleven jurors were wrong in having reasonable doubts, Desronvil was too ignorant...

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  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. I just remembered I have a chocolate chip cookie left to eat. 2. I bought unshelled peanuts for an endeavor to befriend a corvid. 3. Someone coined the word “befiend” on the Fediverse and I’m here to encourage its use.

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  Edible plants seen along the Slaughter Creek / Bauerle Ranch trails today. I left out dewberry, my favorite, because animals like me have already eaten their tasty raspberry fruit. #Hiking #EdiblePlants #iPhonePhotography #Plants #Austin #Texas #Nature

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  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. “What’s good? Life’s good” - Lou Reed 2. Setting aside troubles to be mindful of the warm morning sun on the skin, the sound of birds in the trees, and a slightly cool breeze during a morning walk. 3. A hot cup of espresso coffee brewed from freshly ground beans sourced from fair trade growers.

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  "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." - Joseph Heller, Catch-22 My wife told me our younger son does not believe humans ever walked on the moon. My guess, based on prior conversations, is that he does believe UFOs carrying aliens from other worlds have visited Earth. I know he believes in supernatural events. His critical thinking skills are weak. I searched the internet for a quiz to assess one’s susceptibility to conspiratorial thinking and...

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  My daughter bought an 18-year-old Dell Optiplex 960 with no operating system on eBay and asked me to install Linux Mint for her. I reluctantly agreed to keep the peace. But I was surprised anyone would sell such a machine with a hard drive. Well, it arrived today and the hard drive was so thoroughly wiped as to be invisible (i.e., it contains no hard drive). It also was poorly packed and arrived with the face plate broken loose, a dead cricket and a few pieces of broken plastic inside the case,...

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  Eating spinach gives one superhuman strength. #CartoonCharactersRules #HashTagGames

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  Automatic transmissions are now standard. #ExplainItWrongButGetItRight #HashTagGames

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  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. Being a heathen, I mowed and trimmed my yard on Sunday morning with no guilt. 2. Much needed rain is in forecast tomorrow. 3. I feel pretty relaxed this morning rather than stressed, despite everything.

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  Last night, shortly before I went to bed, there was a local news report about a shooting in a nearby town. This morning’s news indicates it was a police shooting, and the person shot is deceased. No other information has been released. It may turn out to be a clear case of a police officer protecting the public against a dangerous criminal. The Texas Rangers are reportedly at the scene to assist with the investigation. They may be an organization that can look at an event involving another law e...

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  #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings 1. Having written and mailed a letter yesterday morning to friends I had not communicated with in about a year, I received a letter from them that afternoon. Serendipity! 2. Calling those friends on the phone today to wish the husband a quick and full recovery from a minor stroke that he mentioned in the letter I noted above. 3. Listening to Max Richter from Sleep, a CD he sent me with his letter, while ordering for him and his wife a favorite collection of po...

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  #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings 1. Completed the lab work for my upcoming annual checkup. 2. Did some grocery shopping so there is now food in the house. 3. Wrote and mailed a letter to an old friend.

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  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. Feeling relaxed after a dog walk, some yard work, and a warm shower. 2. A good cup of coffee in hand from freshly ground beans in my espresso machine. 3. Settling down on a sofa to continue reading an interesting book.

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  Appreciation for Cyanobacteria (and the humble species of the Nostoc genus) “It is certainly no exaggeration to say that we owe our existence in present form to cyanobacteria.” - Kartik Aiyer, PhD, University of Aarhus Behind the Shady Hollow Community Center in southwest Austin, Texas is a concrete slab. It may be related to a water treatment facility that was decommissioned a couple decades ago. During dry weather, one can find at one end of it dark patches of crunchy stuff that most person...

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  @sk76 “My Aunt Alice (Alice Ridnor) was on Broadway. She was loud, brassy, and until her last breath, had platinum blonde hair, cherry red nails, layers of face powder, and furs that smelled of mothballs. She could also walk down the street, knitting and carry on a conversation at the same time. On her piano was a signed picture from President Kennedy, a thank you for the sweater she’d knit him.” https://rajalary.blog/2011/03/

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  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. A long morning walk with my dog that was good for me and he seemed to enjoy judging by the amount of sniffing he did. 2. A friendly smile and wave from another walker wearing a diversity shirt and her dog. She probably saw my dog’s rainbow-colored serape collar and leash, thinking it was a pride pattern which it is not, but correct anyway if she thought I am an ally or have LGBTQ+ family members and friends whom I love and respect. 3. Lots of birds and squi...