Old_Jimmy_Twodicks

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 5 days ago

Yeah, this is pretty painful to watch. Trump is a piece of shit, but he's way more forceful and even somewhat coherent. Meanwhile, Biden's just above a whisper and is somewhere between stuttering and rambling.

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 1 month ago

Please, hold on to this reality as long as you can.

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 2 months ago

This, to me, is one of the biggest fallacies of tech companies claiming they care about sustainability goals. No matter the application, most of our hardware is made with materials that come from central Africa. Those mines and facilities are largely controlled by China. Whatever you think of China politically, you have to recognize that many of the sustainability disclosures that, say, Apple is making are premised on these mines self-reporting compliance with certain standards. In practice, miners are using outdated, poorly maintained equipment. Commonly, they're using shovels and even their hands.

You can write all the cutesy reports you want with stock photos of green leaves, hands holding soil, and smiling "farmers." Unless and until you're directly funding better means of extracting raw materials like cobalt from the ground, companies' claims about their commitment to ESG should be completely dismissed as nonsense.

Some sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 2 months ago

Yeah, this is going into the rotation

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/2a075a10-b32e-42c2-9b3f-12f8f7267a5b.jpeg

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 2 months ago

About ten years ago, I went through this process with as many data brokers and reporting agencies as possible. I printed documents, made accounts, mailed letters, and jumped through every hoop they set up. Some of the companies only recognized my request for a term of five years, while some were permanent.

I don't get random credit card offers in the mail any more. However, since I started using an email alias service a few years ago, I've found my data making its way back to the data brokers. I'm not in the EU, so I don't think I have much recourse for it. Even so, I think it's worth it to jump through all the hoops. Maybe one day it'll feel more meaningful.

tl;dr: It was cumbersome to do it, and other than a reduction in snail mail spam, I haven't seen much benefit from it. All the same, I'd do it again.

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 4 months ago

zzt

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 4 months ago

Call me when they release the Frosted Giga-Wheat™, which is projected to be the size of Iceland and consists of approximately 5.15 billion wheats.

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 4 months ago

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/9f6fdaa2-b776-46c5-95d9-e27fd9142a2a.png

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 5 months ago

In case anyone was curious about the full review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/speed-zone-1989

Old_Jimmy_Twodicks , 5 months ago

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is an oppressive dictator who was responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses of any former Soviet State (which is a pretty damn high bar).

He is also an absolute cartoon character.

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/9f73ca7b-5fdc-4b57-ac1a-996b5a77697f.jpeg