Huntn00 @Huntn00@talkedabout.social

Outrage as Republican says 1921 Tulsa massacre not motivated by race | Oklahoma | The Guardian

Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters condemned for comments on 1921 massacre in which hundreds were killed by white mobs — Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/08/oklahoma-republican-tulsa-race-massacre

http://nedhamsonsecondlineviewofthenews.com/2023/07/08/outrage-as-republican-says-1921-tulsa-massacre-not-motivated-by-race-oklahoma-the-guardian/

How do we know stuff? In the age of LLM chat bots, this question is on my mind. For example: 'tomatoes love basil' is common advice on the internet. I have zero doubt that if I asked ChatGPT "what are good companion plants for tomatoes?" the answer would include basil.

But right out of the gate I know better than to trust a chatbot with the well-being of my tomatoes. A google search will cough up the same info from dozens of sites, all swearing that basil plays nicely with tomato plants. But how do I know these sites a) aren't generated by chat bots? or b) based on people plagiarizing each other?

In fact, I don't know that. All these gardening sites could be cribbing information from other gardening sites in a happy circular sharing of information--or perhaps misinformation. I can't tell.

So, you ask, who would you believe? Well, there are a couple of sources. I could experiment in my own garden, trying to control variables as best I can, and then compare tomatoes grown with basil to the same kinds of tomatoes grown without. Hardly perfect, but it might hint at an effect if there is one. I'd probably need to experiment for a few years, so not a quick way to get info. And unless the results were dramatic, I might be just as unsure after trying a few times.

Or I could hunt for websites run by university agricultural centers. They should provide references to research on companion planting. In other words, what can science tell us about basil and tomatoes? If it's true that tomatoes grow better with basil planted nearby, scientists might be able to explain why. Maybe basil releases compounds into the soil and/or air that help tomatoes thrive.

So in my case, I think if I want some assurance that I'm dealing with facts, I would head for scientific sources.

This is exhausting, trying to know stuff. I think I'll go outside and admire the the 15-20 small green tomatoes I've grown so far. Watching them grow is like watching paint dry, but I keep doing it. 😆



#tomatoes #gardens #Maine

You know what would be a welcome addition to the fediverse? In addition to the Reply, Boost, and Favorite buttons, how ‘bout a question mark for those toots that you reread four times and still don’t understand what they were trying to say.

I got a bunch of cool pics this morning 😍

pretty fucked up that the people in key decision making positions believe that one day a man will come out of the sky and summon the faithful to heaven in living form and leave this world to be condemned and eventually remade by sky man magic

All the people still pushing for time and resources be put towards nuclear are not serious about addressing the #GlobalWarming that we are now suffering from example #41,893:

A new 1.2 GW solar facility is now providing clean energy to Brazilians. Construction only started in 2021!

We need to stop burning fossil fuels just as fast as we possibly can and #Wind #Solar and #Batteries can get it done the quickest for the lowest cost. https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/07/06/largest-pv-plant-in-americas-goes-online-in-brazil/

Did you think it's kind of crazy for a judge to uphold free speech by imposing a gag order on a non-trivial number of Americans? If so, you have company among the First Amendment experts I spoke to for this breakdown of the incoherent, right-wing-grievance-fueled July 4th ruling ordering much of the Executive Branch to shut up about social-media content moderation. https://newrepublic.com/article/174098/louisiana-judges-anti-biden-social-media-order-makes-zero-sense

Open Thread | No Labels is Nothing But a Right- Wing Front Whose Goal Is to Throw the 2024 Election to the GOP

Period. Rubin has this absolutely correct. Opinion Follow the money: No Labels can’t hide its right-wing ties Just as it applies to investigating … Open Thread | No Labels is Nothing But a Right- Wing Front Whose Goal Is to Throw the 2024 Election to the GOP

http://nedhamsonsecondlineviewofthenews.com/2023/07/07/open-thread-no-labels-is-nothing-but-a-right-wing-front-whose-goal-is-to-throw-the-2024-election-to-the-gop/

The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 5 – « The Forest is Burning – …

Yanomami shaman communicating with the spirits of the forest, Amazonas, Brazil – photo and photo montage: Barbara Crane Navarro « The Forest is … The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 5 – « The Forest is Burning – …

http://nedhamsonsecondlineviewofthenews.com/2023/07/07/the-amazon-rainforest-indigenous-peoples-and-wildlife-in-peril-a-series-of-short-films-by-barbara-crane-navarro-5-the-forest-is-burning-2/

The Biogeography of the Oceans — msamba

So far in my studies of biogeography, we’ve mainly looked at how life distributes and structures itself on land. Today we’re changing that by taking … The Biogeography of the Oceans — msamba

http://nedhamsonsecondlineviewofthenews.com/2023/07/07/the-biogeography-of-the-oceans-msamba/

If the US wants Mexico to do more to halt the flow of opioids going northward, the US could start by doing *anything* (it currently does nothing) to halt the flow of guns going southward.

Read David Frum's article for the Atlantic for more.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/mexico-republican-bill-2024-election/674553/

@TXsharon The US EPA came out with new methane rules today.

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-updates-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-requirements-oil-and-gas

The detailed rules are here:
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-07/SAN%2010246%20Subpart%20W%20NPRM%20Premable%20and%20Rule_Admin.pdf

Notable it appears to allow super-emitter notifications from sources other than satellites:

"The method used during by the notifier to quantify the emissions (satellite detection;
remote-sensing equipment on aircraft; mobile monitoring platform; other, specify; or unknown)."

#Climate #ClimateAction #Methane #USPolitics

#Russia closes #Finland consulate in St. Petersburg and expels nine Finnish diplomats

Retaliation for Finland's notification of nine Russian personnel last month to leave the country, citing their intelligence activities

#UkraineWar