a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
johu's profile
johu

x 1

stats
following: 0
followed tags: 15
followed domains: 1
badges given: 0 of 0
hubskier for: 3213 days

recent comments, posts, and shares:
johu  ·  2135 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hiking the Pecos Wilderness, NM

I grew up very close to there on Hwy 12 between La Veta and Trinidad, CO. I used to climb the Spanish peaks, Trinchera, and other Sangre de Cristo peaks all the time as a teen. These pictures make me yearn for home pretty hard. 😢 Thank you.

Dala11
text  ·  #breadski  ·  #grubski
johu  ·  2995 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Apparently, it's actually a pretty good debate strategy.

I should clarify. In case anyone didn't already guess, I distorted Sanders and Cruz's faces in the last pics to make them look funnier.

johu  ·  3121 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Lawrence Lessig is running for President to reform voting

Pacific Standard has a great response, similar to War's critique.

johu  ·  3125 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Are So Many People Running For President? : It's All Politics : NPR

I don't know why on Earth don't they detail the following reason: Anyone who can get a billionaire to back their candidacy (i.e. buy their policy positions) through a PAC can easily finance the whole thing with no popular support. These crowded primaries are a direct result of Citizens United, and they're not going to go away until CU goes away, and Bernie Sanders is the only one who isn't playing by the new rules.

It isn't all politics. It's mostly dirty money.

johu  ·  3126 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How a devastating forest fire revealed a tree as close to fireproof as a tree can get

Very few of these stories ever touch on the fact that forest fires play an important part of the natural cycle of many forests. They allow certain trees to flourish by burning the underbrush. Native Americans regularly started fires to certain groves, mostly for manipulation of the habitat to make hunting and gathering easier and to promote of ecodiversity. Part of the reason the redwoods have persisted is that their forests were burned fairly regularly. On the other hand, forests without regular fires--those in which we attempt to avoid fire at all cost--can become so run over with dry underbrush that when they do finally catch fire, they burn hot and fast and kill everything, even those trees that would usually benefit from milder fires.

Of course, on the other hand, we don't want our permanent houses to burn down and we do want to live near the forest. This was a problem nomadic groups never had. I just find it funny that forest fires are so often discussed as if they are somehow unnatural.

johu  ·  3128 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Transgender Kids Should Wait to Transition (PS Mag)

The real thing to avoid, it would seem, is making the transition permanent with hormonal therapy or surgery, and then regretting it. It's almost just another version of the argument "don't force them into a box."

johu  ·  3129 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Samsung’s Slick New Smartwatch Makes Calls Without a Phone

That does look quite nice. I like the idea of mechanical feedback with a rotating bezel. If I get a smart watch, I want it to still be primarily a watch, and then some smart benefits on the side. Thanks for sharing.

johu  ·  3129 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: It’s Now Possible to 3-D Print Transparent Glass

Watch the video that they took the GIFs from. Start at 3:00 if you only want to see the stunningly gorgeous final products.

Excellent share, by the way.

Wow, I've always wondered about the disparity between the name and the offering. Thanks for sharing!

I don't understand. I don't see any mention of SJWs denouncing this gathering or having "a problem with people of different races banding together against racism." Do you have another link you could show of BLM or some other group saying this gathering in Birmingham is bad or unjust?

johu  ·  3131 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Samsung’s Slick New Smartwatch Makes Calls Without a Phone

It's too bad that it is yet another smart watch that looks like 25c toy from a grocery store vending machine. Why do all these look so cheap and dumb? The only one I've seen yet that actually looks like something I'd want to wear is the Moto 360.

Wait, how is this about hypocrisy?

johu  ·  3155 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The End of Dating: Tinder and Hook Up Culture

How the heck do are you supposed to avoid STI's? I mean, "pussy affluenza" also means high exposure, and they seem to be doing next to no vetting. No wonder Hep C, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are on the rise the way they are. Yeesh.

johu  ·  3181 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ghost Students, Ghost Teachers, Ghost Schools.

I agree that good policy would help. But how do you make good policy happen in a place like that? The institutions themselves and many of the people that fill them all have strong incentives towards corruption; that's a big point of this article. Aside from long term occupation and incorporation of the population in foreign institutions, like the British in India, how might we make institutional change happen? What if they don't want it?

I'm only saying that there is a point to be made that if the implementation of policy designed to help comes from a foreign source, and we want the policy to actually be followed, the force element still has to be there on the ground. And even then, as this article shows, it can be an abject failure.

johu  ·  3182 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ghost Students, Ghost Teachers, Ghost Schools.

Excellent article. Buzzfeed is really stepping up its game. There just doesn't seem to be any way for a country like the USA to make much of a positive difference there. Our Middle East policy just falls apart everywhere we do anything.