gpl's recent activity
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Comment on For proponents of "vote for the lesser of two evils", what is your endgame? in ~talk
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Comment on For proponents of "vote for the lesser of two evils", what is your endgame? in ~talk
gpl Link ParentIf the Republican party continues on the course it has been on, then yes, I hope we never have another Republican president.If the Republican party continues on the course it has been on, then yes, I hope we never have another Republican president.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
gpl LinkBinged Fallout last week and was super impressed. They absolutely nailed the feeling of the games. It was fun and kept me hooked and now I’m really looking forward to the next season. Everyone was...Binged Fallout last week and was super impressed. They absolutely nailed the feeling of the games. It was fun and kept me hooked and now I’m really looking forward to the next season. Everyone was great but I felt like Walter Goggins really knocked it outta the park as the Ghoul.
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Comment on The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power | Season 2 official teaser trailer in ~tv
gpl Link ParentEhh not sure I fully agree here. There are some things specific to something like the Silmarillion (like, as you point out, it takes place over thousands of years) that make it much harder to...Ehh not sure I fully agree here. There are some things specific to something like the Silmarillion (like, as you point out, it takes place over thousands of years) that make it much harder to adapt than something like LOTR. It’s not impossible, but at some point it doesn feel like that should be taken into account when deciding what to adapt.
But more than that, the issue with this series is that Amazon doesn’t have the rights to the Silmarillion. They have the rights to (I think) the LOTR appendices and possibly Unfinished Tales if I’m not mistaken. The appendices hint at a lot of stuff in the Silmarillion, but don’t cover it explicitly. So the show is in this weird place where it’s clear the writers want to mention or show something but they can’t and it ends up feeling weird. A lot of the flashbacks to Valinor in season 1 were this way: hints at these epics stories that ultimately are not followed up on. They don’t have the rights they wish they had, I think.
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Comment on The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power | Season 2 official teaser trailer in ~tv
gpl Link ParentMy issue with the first season was that it really did not feel like the writers trusted the audience enough to “show not tell”. I felt soooo many times that the dialogue was almost… childish? for...My issue with the first season was that it really did not feel like the writers trusted the audience enough to “show not tell”. I felt soooo many times that the dialogue was almost… childish? for lack of a better word. So many things being explained or said explicitly that had already been implied through subtext. It felt like the writers would hint at things and then be like “did you catch that? here it is again in case not” and then make it very explicit.
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Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
gpl Link ParentYeah, I agree that some can be better and some can be worse. That being said, the strongest reaction I've had to any ad is "meh" and then I think about something else. The only time it goes beyond...Yeah, I agree that some can be better and some can be worse. That being said, the strongest reaction I've had to any ad is "meh" and then I think about something else. The only time it goes beyond that are like pop-ups that make a site completely unusable, but that is pretty rare these days. To me, it's ultimately just Not That Hard to ignore them.
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Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
gpl LinkHere is one view that is at least very outside the norm on Tildes (and relatively light-hearted in comparison to some here!): I don't think ads are a big deal and I think expending large amounts...Here is one view that is at least very outside the norm on Tildes (and relatively light-hearted in comparison to some here!): I don't think ads are a big deal and I think expending large amounts of effort to avoid seeing them is a total waste of effort.
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Comment on A British nurse was found guilty of killing seven babies. Did she do it? in ~health
gpl Link ParentOh to be clear I was not targeting you specifically, just providing more context in general. I definitely agree with the latter part of your comment as well.Oh to be clear I was not targeting you specifically, just providing more context in general. I definitely agree with the latter part of your comment as well.
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Comment on A British nurse was found guilty of killing seven babies. Did she do it? in ~health
gpl (edited )LinkAll I will say is that if this is your first time hearing about this case, I encourage you to read some other articles about it as well. I think, especially when it comes to criminal convictions,...All I will say is that if this is your first time hearing about this case, I encourage you to read some other articles about it as well. I think, especially when it comes to criminal convictions, it is always important to consider all possibilities and in that regard this article plays an important role in raising important questions. However, her conviction did not rest solely on the statistical evidence presented above. And it was not based on accusations of a single doctor. Even the wikipedia page for this case documents much additional testimony that, at the very least, makes Letby a very suspicious person in this case:
After Child A's death, the parents had spent the day with Child B in the nursery with her, but were persuaded to go and rest before the baby's sudden crash. Tests later showed loops of gas-filled bowel in the child. As a result, it was later concluded that the baby had been injected with air. Letby had fed the baby 25 minutes before her collapse and the child had the same unusual rash on her skin as first seen on Child A hours earlier, indicating that she had also been injected with air.
A few days later, Child C, a boy in good condition, died. He suddenly collapsed as soon as another nurse left the nursery. Despite not being the designated nurse for the child, Letby was witnessed standing over his monitor as his alarm sounded when the other nurse came back in. Letby's shift leader had already told her to focus on her designated patient and the shift leader later testified that she had to keep pulling her away from the family room as Child C died.
The child survived and a blood test later revealed that he had been given an "extremely high" amount of exogenous pharmaceutical insulin, which he had never needed. Later, at trial, Letby did not contest that the baby had been intentionally injected with insulin, suggesting someone else must have done it. Letby searched for the parents of Child E and F on social media in the following weeks and months, and for other parents who were not part of the case.
On 7 September 2015, Child G, on her 100th day of being alive, collapsed for the first of three times in the following three weeks. After the first collapse, the baby girl was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital, but five days later she collapsed again, 15 minutes after Letby had been feeding her. [....] It was later discovered that Letby had deliberately altered the baby's temperature on her observation chart to make it seem like she was already unwell before she collapsed, and also falsified the time of the baby's collapse to make it seem like it coincided with when a colleague gave the baby a milk feed.
When the child initially became unwell, another nurse suggested he be moved to nursery 1 where the sickest children were treated, but Letby disagreed and the baby subsequently collapsed less than two hours later. He recovered, but suffered two further collapses and died almost exactly three hours later. The lead consultant noted that the child "should have responded better" to resuscitation. X-rays on a post-mortem showed he had an abnormal amount of gas in his body and liver damage that an independent pathologist later ruled had resulted from an "impact injury" similar to what would be seen in a car crash. 13 minutes after Child O's death, Letby was feeding his triplet brother Child P, who also was expected to be able to soon go home, but he collapsed after his diaphragm was somehow shattered. Doctors believed he would make a full recovery. As they prepared him to go to another hospital, Letby said: "He's not leaving here alive, is he?". The boy soon died.
It was also revealed during the trial that Letby had to be told more than once not to enter a room where the parents of one of the victims were grieving. Letby said, "It's always me when it happens."
A key piece of evidence was also given by a consultant who recounted that in February 2016 he had walked in and seen Letby standing over a baby and watching when they seemed to have stopped breathing. Letby was not doing anything despite the baby desaturating. When he asked her what was going on, she responded that he had only then just started declining. This baby went on to survive their collapse. By this stage all seven of the paediatrician consultants who worked on the neonatal ward agreed something was seriously wrong in the department.
A paediatrician testified that he and other clinicians had previously raised concerns about Letby, but were told by hospital administration that they "should not really be saying such things" and "not to make a fuss." Another doctor testified that Letby commented an hour before one victim died, "He's not leaving here alive, is he?
Letby was the only staff member on duty for every one of the 25 suspicious incidents. After her removal from duty, and the downgrade of the unit, to concentrate on lower risk babies, no further incidents were deemed suspicious. Importantly, it was discovered that Letby had falsified patient records, covering her tracks by changing the times some babies collapsed to make sure she could not be placed at the scene.
The above are just a small selection of excerpts from the wiki. I'm not trying to relitigate this case or anything. Like I said, I think articles like the linked on play an important role. That being said I just want to highlight that her conviction was heavily based on witness testimony linking her to many of the deaths, forensic reports consistent with foul play (air being injected into these infants while under her care), and her own suspicious behavior such as altering medical records. Obviously draw your own conclusions, but this does not seem so obviously as "witch hunt" to me.
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Comment on Some observations about some of the conversations here in ~tildes
gpl LinkNo there's not. It's been like that forever, and that's good.-
No there's not.
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It's been like that forever, and that's good.
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Comment on The disinformation machine: How susceptible are we to AI propaganda? in ~tech
gpl Link ParentI think one reasonable interpretation is "if the creator of the AI wants it to". There are some safeguards which can be somewhat effective, but if some programmer does not want them there, they...I think one reasonable interpretation is "if the creator of the AI wants it to". There are some safeguards which can be somewhat effective, but if some programmer does not want them there, they won't be. Dangerous AI is a design choice.
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NSF halts South Pole megaproject to probe infant cosmos’ growth spurt
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Comment on RIP 'Red vs. Blue.' Machinima is gone—but its legacy is everywhere in ~tv
gpl LinkI remember the first Machinima I ever saw was a single called Anathema, and it was a CoD 4 machinima based on the Gillies in the Mist level. Absolutely blew my mind at the time and I was briefly...I remember the first Machinima I ever saw was a single called Anathema, and it was a CoD 4 machinima based on the Gillies in the Mist level. Absolutely blew my mind at the time and I was briefly obsessed with trying to make my own. Good times.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (May 2024) in ~health.mental
gpl Link ParentNot screaming into the void, because others are reading it! Just know that there is at least one person out there rooting for you.Not screaming into the void, because others are reading it! Just know that there is at least one person out there rooting for you.
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Comment on The youth need your help in ~life
gpl Link ParentStudent protestors are pretty universally demanding things that could actually be accomplished — their universities divesting from companies that help supply arms to Israel, or which operate in...Student protestors are pretty universally demanding things that could actually be accomplished — their universities divesting from companies that help supply arms to Israel, or which operate in occupied Palestinian territories. This is very much within the realm of possibilty: it has been done before in the 80s in the context of South African apartheid, and done more recently for fossil fuel companies. Some universities have already begun to do so, for example Brown recently committed to a binding vote on divestment after dialogue with protestors. Sure, maybe at the end of the day this divestment will negligibly move the needle, but it's not nothing. Furthermore, such visible protests like this do a lot to a) signal to others who may quietly support the cause that they are not alone and b) also signal to Palestinians that not everyone in the US is for this war. Both of those are moral victories.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
gpl Link ParentI'm just about 1/3 in so hoping it clicks! I'm definitely invested enough to finish as is.I'm just about 1/3 in so hoping it clicks! I'm definitely invested enough to finish as is.
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Comment on At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin in ~news
gpl Link ParentYeah I definitely agree it's complicated. And I agree that both sides sometimes default to using the actions of the worst people on the other side to justify a dismissal. That being said, I do...Yeah I definitely agree it's complicated. And I agree that both sides sometimes default to using the actions of the worst people on the other side to justify a dismissal. That being said, I do think it's a bit different when, for example, one side's stated purpose to protest what they perceive as genocide, vs when it's to protest like, mask mandates. To use an example. But that's not an issue of the outliers, but rather disagreeing with the central point of the protests, so I suppose it's not very relevant to the point.
Re: @Minori's point. Nazi bar situations are bad and should be avoided, I agree. My understanding, based on the reporting I have read, is that in the majority of these protests, with some exceptions, there has actually not been very much hateful language (especially if you do not include ambiguous phrases like "from the river to the sea" which I personally do not think should be counted). The biggest exception was early at the Columbia, but even then the hateful language was coming from people who were not students, and have since been excluded from the encampment there. I guess it doesn't really matter whether they were students or not as long as they were included in the protest, which is the point of the Nazi bar analogy, but nonetheless I just have not seen much evidence of violent or antisemitic language at the vast majority of these protests, and I think I have been following relatively closely.
Any such examples and language should obviously be condemned and if the student protestors are wise, the people using such language should be excised from the movement. From what I have seen at least this is generally been the case.
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Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
gpl LinkMoreso than anywhere else I've found, this place reminds me of the forums of my youth. All that's missing is an IRC channel ;)Moreso than anywhere else I've found, this place reminds me of the forums of my youth. All that's missing is an IRC channel ;)
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
gpl Link ParentThank you! I definitely don't mean to be misleading or anything, I had interpreted my quoted statistic as reflecting the total number who get rejected, not just the ones who get rejected AND have...Thank you! I definitely don't mean to be misleading or anything, I had interpreted my quoted statistic as reflecting the total number who get rejected, not just the ones who get rejected AND have already been reported. I didn't recognize the distinction. In any case, this would mean 65%-75% (depending on how the point in your last paragraph is understood) of asylum cases get approved. Not quite as overwhelming of a majority as my original comment implies, but a strong majority nonetheless.
In the short term? Minimize harm to people and communities I care about. If you read about basically any of the policies Trump wants to enact in a second term, they are genuinely authoritarian. He and the rest of the party have proven that they do not care about democracy and actively want to undermine it. I do not think this is hyperbole, and I think it is a uniquely different danger than in the past.
In the intermediate term, I want us to reform our voting system to make a multiparty system possible and to lessen the influence of money in our elections. Both of these will make it so that we don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils. But until that’s the case, we have to work with the in the system we’re given, and I think there is a clear choice that will minimize harm.
Are you asking something else and I’m misunderstanding?