Catoblepas

joined 2 years ago
[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 3 weeks ago

EY! I’m WALKIN’ ova here!

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 63 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The fact that in some instances the legal system does work according to the invocation of a magic phrase makes it so much harder to deal with the delusions of sovcits. The right to remain silent should be just that. You don’t have to say “I’m invoking my right to free speech” every time before opening your mouth for it to count.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

This is just for the English speaker learning Spanish Duolingo course, which I’m told is one of the best ones, so it may not apply to other courses. But IMO it was easier to pick up the majority of the beginner vocabulary in Duolingo (they’ve got the drill aspect of language learning down pat) and then spread out to other sources. I especially needed outside help with grammar because (at least when I was doing the early parts) Duolingo didn’t explain grammar very much, so there was a bit of ramming my head against a brick wall.

How long an article takes me to read depends on how many colloquial phrases it has that Duolingo hasn’t introduced me to, if uncommon words or jargon are used, etc. The dictionary app I use is pretty good and includes slang, so when I do run into unknowns it only takes a few seconds to look it up. But overall I’d say I read maybe 1/2 to 2/3 the speed I read English, depending on all the above factors. It does fatigue me a lot faster than reading English, but I think that’s a normal thing for second languages you’re still learning.

Edit: oh oops I misunderstood your last question, it took me maybe a year to start on news articles and maybe another 6 months to get comfortable with them. Totally YMMV depending on how much and how seriously you study, this wasn’t anything like full time study for me.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 weeks ago

By the time you’re old enough to ask “why,” they’ve subjected you to enough propaganda to ensure it doesn’t even occur to you to do so.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I learned probably 90% of my Spanish through Duolingo. My reading is good enough that I can usually follow along with Spanish news articles and Spanish spoken at a moderate pace. (So almost none of it, haha) I have hearing comprehension problems with English as well though, so that’s not Duolingo’s fault.

I’m definitely not fluent, but it’s not like I wouldn’t know what to do if someone handed me a form in Spanish, either.

Overall it’s just the repetition that matters. I don’t think I would know any less Spanish if I’d spent 20-30 minutes every day for the past 2+ years using a different app to learn.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 4 weeks ago

Mango Languages is available for free through many libraries and has an app.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

This is what every news article about an assault or murder of a queer person used to be like in the 00s and earlier. Then after the local queer community spends ages protesting (if there was one, and who knows how many murders flew under the radar this way) maybe someone eventually gets a slap on the wrist charge.

Maybe they’ll update these stories soon, but it’s not a great sign when they’re not even discussing the husband’s account. (The other stories, not the one you linked)

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 433 points 1 month ago (47 children)

According to his husband’s posts on social media, these neighbors had subjected them to homophobic harassment and threats to burn down their home before now. And when they returned to find the skull of their dog out in plain view and started to cry, the neighbor came and killed Jonathan. His husband said he blocked the shot and saved his life.

What do you fucking do about a community like that? These people don’t exist in isolation. It’s scary as fuck and a heartbreaking way to start pride month.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 1 month ago

I’m sorry to report that a lot of American conservatives are like that IRL as well, and it’s not new. After public opinion turned on Nixon, conservative talk radio as a genre was formed to make sure that never happens again. Social media has only made it worse, if anything.

The online conservatives are just more likely to be obsessed with niche political stars and topics, but for the most part they’re drawing from the same well when it comes to talking points.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 month ago

Key words in that sentence: give you those things. I doubt the lord tech bro could do any of that if the apocalypse happened tomorrow.

Even the janky version requires skill and knowledge, and if he doesn’t have the crude then both are useless anyway. Building a hole in the ground with motorcycles doesn’t help you when you depend on a highly connected world to fuel and maintain it.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 42 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Where are you getting the gas, Steve? Gas is only good for a few months in storage without treatment and a couple of years with it. Have you never read a fucking book?

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 month ago

Dude must smell like the inside of a vet’s office.

 
 

Last Thursday, 21-year-old Augusta Clara, her three-month-old baby, and Clara’s 17-year-old sister had just begun driving away from their home when they were stopped by ICE agents. The three of them and Ferreira de Oliveira, who entered the United States in 2022, are part of a Brazilian immigrant family who live together in the greater Boston area. (The family members do not all share the same immigration status.)

Ferreira de Oliveira, who is 40 years old, was still at their nearby home when she received a phone call from one of her daughters, who said ICE had pulled them over and were threatening to arrest Clara.

Ferreira de Oliveira’s frightened daughter told her mother that she needed to leave the home now and come meet them on the street, because ICE was telling them that if they arrested Clara, they weren’t allowed to leave the baby in the hands of a minor. So, the feds insisted, grandma needed to rush over to take custody of the baby.

 
 

The Beachwood Police Department reported on May 2 the man checked out the hundred books from the Cuyahoga County Public Library Beachwood Branch, and posted a video of him burning the books on social media.

 

"In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," [bishop] Rowe wrote. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government."

 

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This is part of an exhibit on indigenous futurism at the Autry Museum of the American West, called Future Imaginaries. The pictures don’t do it justice, it’s very beautiful to see the stitches in person.

Here’s the information from the accompanying plaque:

Trek (Pleiades)

Marie Watt (Seneca Nation)

2014

Reclaimed wool blankets, satin binding, thread, and embroidery floss

The quilted pattern in Marie Watt's Trek (Pleiades) echoes the nine diamond-like formations found in some Native basketry designs. The number nine also corresponds to the nine brightest stars of the constellation Pleiades, which derives its name from the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology, who were transformed into stars by Zeus to avoid the hunter Orion's unwanted advances.

The Starship Enterprise, delicately embroidered over the diamond pattern, references both lengthy voyages found in Indigenous ancestral stories alongside modern space travel, each intersecting time and space, the historical and contemporary, the real and mythical.

 
 
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In the gardens [OC] (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/pics@lemmy.world
 
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Mindless rule (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/onehundredninetysix@lemmy.blahaj.zone
 
 

Some of the medications include:

  • Antidepressants
  • Antihistamines
  • Stimulants
  • Beta blockers
  • Diuretics
  • ACE inhibitors
  • Thyroid medication
  • Antipsychotics

Be sure to pay extra attention to any symptoms of heat exhaustion, stay hydrated, and in a cool area indoors when possible during heat waves.

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