You should know that there are a large number of tutorials online for ways to make a handheld EMP (electromagnetic pulse). They will disrupt electronic devices in your vicinity and would be very useful if masked men approach you and try to photograph you with a potentially illegal biometric collection application. If made correctly they are harmless to people, and if made incorrectly they are most likely harmful to the operator. It is a non-violent defense device.

This database collects the trading behaviours of US politician, while insider trading is illegal, and is something they obviously are not doing /s, US politicians possess an innate ability beating out even the best on Wallstreet.

It has 15 different types of beans in it and it can be bought pre packaged. 15 different beans!

https://lemvotes.org/

Seeing a bunch of coal propaganda lately, wanted to remind everyone coal is brain poison. There are 1000 reasons not to support fossil fuel in any form, but if you had to pick a bad form, you'd be hard pressed to do worse than coal.

Research paper abstract:

Abstract

Background

Coal-fired power plants are a major source of air pollution that can impact children’s health. Limited research has explored if proximity to coal-fired power plants contributes to children’s neurobehavioral disorders.

Objective

This community-based study collected primary data to investigate the relationships of residential proximity to power plants and neurobehavioral problems in children.

Methods

235 participants aged 6–14 years who lived within 10 miles of two power plants were recruited. Exposure to particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM10) was measured in children’s homes using personal modular impactors. Neurobehavioral symptoms were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Multiple regression models were performed to test the hypothesized associations between proximity/exposure and neurobehavioral symptoms. Geospatial statistical methods were used to map the spatial patterns of exposure and neurobehavioral symptoms.

Results

A small proportion of the variations of neurobehavioral problems (social problems, affective problems, and anxiety problems) were explained by the regression models in which distance to power plants, traffic proximity, and neighborhood poverty was statistically associated with the neurobehavioral health outcomes. Statistically significant hot spots of participants who had elevated levels of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and social problems were observed in the vicinity of the two power plants.

Significance

Results of this study suggest an adverse impact of proximity to power plants on children’s neurobehavioral health. Although coal-fired power plants are being phased out in the US, health concern about exposure from coal ash storage facilities remains. Furthermore, other countries in the world are increasing coal use and generating millions of tons of pollutants and coal ash. Findings from this study can inform public health policies to reduce children’s risk of neurobehavioral symptoms in relation to proximity to power plants.

** Keywords: Proximity to coal-fired power plants, PM10 exposure, Children, Neurobehavioral symptoms, Hot spots **

*edit formatting

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2022-06-22/appeals-court-upholds-arkansas-israel-boycott-pledge-law

I haven't seen a recent post about this.

This is a handy tool to have for anyone sick of Microsoft's shit and those who are slowly transitioning out of their ecosystem. It forces Windows to open your default browser instead of Edge every time you accidentally click on certain links in the Start menu, the toolbar widget, or open the help page by pressing F1.

It's simple to install and also lets you customize other actions shown below:

As shown in the image, the additional redirections include Bing Discover, Bing Search, MSN News, MSN Weather, Bing Images, PDF Viewer. Additionally, you can disable CoPilot, redirect Spotlight, Bing Chat, and Windows Store Apps.

Official site: MSEdgeRedirect.com

All you really need is a little plastic thing of needles ($1), some pins ($1), thread (varies but even good cotton thread isn’t that much), scissors (where you might actually consider investing a little - do not use these scissors for anything else, and consider a rotary cutter if you really get into it), and fabric.

Fabric might seem like the pricey part of the equation, but consider how much a thrift store is going to charge you for a duvet or a pile of t-shirts! I have something like 30 t-shirts I spent maybe $5 on several months ago, and I’ve been working through that pile for a while.

You can turn a t-shirt into a pillow, a reusable bag, use the scraps to patch clothing, make dolls, quilts… The bits that get to be so small to be unusable for a scrap quilt you can use to stuff things.

It takes a lot of time compared to machine sewing, but it’s an activity that can be done while watching a tv show.

Why you should know: a number of reasons. My boss used to throw bologna slices at moving vehicles either as a prank or out of road rage. What made me think you should know is an incident that happened to a friend the other day where they saw an ex's car following them. That could be a subtle way to mark dangerous cars to alert others of stalkers or other such dangerous people.

Source

Once you start paying attention to this, it can no longer be unseen. If they don't like someone, they'll use a bad picture of them and vice versa. It's a good tell even if the article itself seems neutral.

The more genetic history that is done, the more it is clear that ancient ethnonyms, the names given supposed ethnicities, put a variety of peoples under a single rubric. I talked recently about how the Phoenicians, long thought to be what we would now call Lebanese, were actually a multi-ethnic trading diaspora in which Greeks and Italians took a leading role in North Africa and Spain — even if they worshiped the god Baal and adopted a Semitic lingua franca.

This point is worth underlining at a time when the United States is seized with a paroxysm of white nationalism. “Whiteness” is meaningless as an ethnicity. Some 5% of self-professed whites in the South have recent African heritage. Courts recognized Arab-Americans as white in the early twentieth century when the category was essential for basic legal and property rights. Apartheid South Africa recognized the Japanese as “white” when they became for a while the world’s second largest economy. Most “national” “ethnicities” can be deconstructed. So it is important to recognize that “nations” are constructs. Certainly, the diverse Scythians were.

The secret of the greatness of the Scythian Empire was, like the secret of the greatness of the United States, its very ethnic diversity and ability to bring in new populations under a broadly similar culture.

Wrote a new piece:

After listening to Oreskes Naomi on the Center for Humane Technology podcast. Highly recommend it

https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/weaponizing-uncertainty-how-tech-is-recycling-big-tobaccos-playbook

I was reminded by how often uncertainty is not just present, but deliberately manufactured time and time again in our history Whether it’s: Big tobacco avoiding blame for their role in a global health crisis Surveillance capitalism sidestepping regulations to reap more profits The climate crisis stalled by "debate" when the evidence is overwhelming Or the humanitarian crisis in Gaza clouded by denial and blame-shifting.

The tactic is consistent: Powerful agencies have the will and the resources to sow doubt. Confuse the public. Delay change. Protect their power and profits.

It’s a playbook that's refined, repeated, and repurposed across industries, ideologies, and decades.

I thought it was interesting how this little factoid was kept hidden from us. Lots of people like to complain about high cholesterol, but I bet most of them don't realize that it's only coming from the animals they're choosing to eat.

Final Paragraph:

Courts distinguish between speech that merely annoys an officer and speech that genuinely impedes their work. While police may resent offensive words, they cannot use their authority to punish individuals for lawful, protected conduct. Determining whether speech is protected or unprotected involves careful analysis of all surrounding facts and circumstances.

Edited to add:

Few of us here would align ourselves with the group trying to suppress information right now, so although I recognize this is not always a smart decision in every situation, I’m not really willing to get onboard with the idea that disseminating topical information from reasonable sources is a problem.

Use your downvotes as you see fit, but I'm not going to apologize for the post. Edit: And am a little disappointed to see information buried so decisively in this community on Lemmy of all places.

Logos are easy targets for slop. Say goodbye to any original logo artistry!

I've not seen one original logo at my work since slop has become available. As it goes!

I know some people are boycotting US businesses during the current administration, but the same mindset has ripple effects here in the EU. In other words: stay vigilant!

I recently learned that voting on lemmy is not anonymous. Anyone can get information about who has upvoted and downvoted a post or comment.

In combination with your IP, this is a massive privacy (maybe even physical security) risk. Also, people can target you for your votes.

Sadly, this is something where I would prefer Reddit over Lemmy. Big tech scrapes data from both places anyways, at least Reddit is safe.

You can't make this shit up 🐶

https://abc7.com/post/kristi-noem-south-dakotas-governor-defends-controversial-decision-to-shoot-her-dog/14741935/>

YSK: People are switching their profile pictures to Microsoft's Clippy in protest of the unethical, immoral, anti-consumer practices by various companies. The movement was started by Louis Rossmann (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ) on August 7th, 2025.

@6:46 "Clippy's a symbol that what used to be considered one of the worst annoyances in our life would now not only be welcomed, but for all of his flaws, celebrated as an idol. Because for all of these things that occur right now where there is negative malice of intent, [...] Clippy just wanted to help. And if you were to turn him on today, unlike most cloud bullshit, he'd still work."

Louis hopes for this to be a show of solidarity.

@5:44 "When a company CEO logs into their Slack and sees 10,000 Clippy's looking back at them, what I hope occurs is that they intuitively understand that they no longer live in a world where they can get away with fucking over the consumer."

@5:58 "[...] that [people] are alert and they are aware of what is going on, and they are going to politely but firmly push back against it. Every single one of those 10,000 people will be an obstacle to the anti-consumer practices and the anti-ownership practices, and they will no longer be another cog in the assembly line sending us all into a dystopia."

Why YSK: I was curious about the number of Clippy avatars, and thought other people might be curious too.

@4:28 "Clippy never tried to normalize sex trafficking. He just wanted to help."