Halfloaf's recent activity

  1. Comment on Jeffrey Epstein alleged in emails that US President Donald Trump knew of his conduct in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    From the ABC article: Also relevant, from a few months ago:

    From the ABC article:

    The other newly released email exchanges are between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, who has written four books chronicling the Trump presidency. Wolff has said he spoke to Epstein at length about Trump during his reporting for the books.

    "I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you--either on air or in scrum afterwards," Wolff wrote to Epstein in December 2015, six months after Trump had officially entered the race for the White House.

    "If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Epstein replied.

    "I think you should let him hang himself," Wolff replied the next day. "If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he'll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime."

    Also relevant, from a few months ago:

    Trump was in Scotland answering questions from reporters on July 28 as the controversy over the criminal case files on the financier indicted on sex trafficking charges continues to roil his administration. Epstein owned a small private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where sex trafficking of young girls allegedly occurred.

    “I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island," Trump said. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.

    5 votes

  2. Comment on 2025 Nobel Prize – This year's Nobel Prize announcements will take place between 6th - 13th October 2025 in ~science

    Halfloaf
    Link
    I’m pretty anxious about the Peace prize announcement on Friday. Either way, I feel like it’ll have more impact on my life than I want it to have.

    I’m pretty anxious about the Peace prize announcement on Friday.

    Either way, I feel like it’ll have more impact on my life than I want it to have.

    4 votes

  4. Comment on Vladimir Putin has called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country's biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016 in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    Doesn’t this seems like a very short time period for such a large conscription?

    In a decree issued Monday, Putin ordered "the conscription of 135,000 citizens of the Russian Federation from Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2025”.

    Conscripts are expected to serve for a year at a military base inside Russia, not to fight in Ukraine, although there have been reports of conscripted men being sent to the front line.

    Doesn’t this seems like a very short time period for such a large conscription?

    2 votes

  5. Comment on What game is your personal "Silksong"? in ~games

    Halfloaf
    Link
    Celeste! I’d been a fan of Towerfall Ascension for years - it was my favorite multiplayer game, and I’d even won some tournaments at various PAX-es! I got the chance to play Maddy as a result, and...

    Celeste!

    I’d been a fan of Towerfall Ascension for years - it was my favorite multiplayer game, and I’d even won some tournaments at various PAX-es! I got the chance to play Maddy as a result, and she destroyed me. :D)

    I was so excited by the motion in the Celeste demos that I played, but I was absolutely not ready for such an emotional roller coaster. It’s a game that I will think about at least once a week for the rest of my life.

    14 votes

  6. Comment on Gianmarco Soresi: Thief of Joy in ~tv

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Well, now your comment makes me want to see Gianmarco on Taskmaster. Edit: I guess I want anyone that has been involved even tangentially with Dropout content on Taskmaster. It’s a pretty large...

    Well, now your comment makes me want to see Gianmarco on Taskmaster.

    Edit: I guess I want anyone that has been involved even tangentially with Dropout content on Taskmaster. It’s a pretty large category now.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 15 in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access

    Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access

    The sweeping new rules to access the building prohibit "unprofessional conduct that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations," as well as "attempts to improperly obtain" classified or unclassified information deemed "controlled," according to a memo released to reporters.

    Reporters who decline to agree to the terms or are found violating the rules would lose access to the building, the memo states.

    The document sent to press outlets also notes: "DoW [Department of War] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."

    3 votes

  8. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 15 in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    I do hope that I live to see Trump punished for his crimes eventually.

    I do hope that I live to see Trump punished for his crimes eventually.

    5 votes

  9. Comment on Is anyone else having trouble focusing? What strategies do you use to help with focus? in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    Thank you all for the tips!! They did help a bit yesterday, and I’m looking forward to plugging more of them in. It was actually nice to come to the realization that I’m feeling a ton of anxiety...

    Thank you all for the tips!! They did help a bit yesterday, and I’m looking forward to plugging more of them in.

    It was actually nice to come to the realization that I’m feeling a ton of anxiety at the moment. I hadn’t put that together until reading a few of the comments here.

    You all are amazing.

    1 vote

  10. Is anyone else having trouble focusing? What strategies do you use to help with focus?

    ~society Ask
    Since the election, and especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time focusing on important tasks. I get a bit nihilistic at the worst times, wondering what the...

    Since the election, and especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time focusing on important tasks.

    I get a bit nihilistic at the worst times, wondering what the point of my day job is with what feels like the collapse of society happening around us. It’s also been a really stressful month or so at work, which doesn’t help with trying to focus on the edge of burnout.

    The last few days have been incredibly unproductive, but also not restful. I’m just sort of stuck in a loop.

    Anyone out there feeling the same, or does anyone have suggestions for getting out of this loop?

    28 votes

  11. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 15 in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    3 killed in US strike on 2nd alleged Venezuelan drug boat, Trump says This did get me to look up the technical description of crimes against humanity:

    3 killed in US strike on 2nd alleged Venezuelan drug boat, Trump says

    The strike was the second of its kind in less than two weeks in what appears to be an unprecedented use of lethal military force against a criminal enterprise. In the past, the U.S. government has relied on the U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement personnel to board vessels for inspection, much as it did on Friday.

    This did get me to look up the technical description of crimes against humanity:

    According to the Rome Statute, there are eleven types of crimes that can be charged as crimes against humanity when they are "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population":[4][24]
    Murder;
    Extermination [including "the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population"];
    Enslavement;
    Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
    Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
    Torture;
    Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
    Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
    Enforced disappearance of persons;
    The crime of apartheid;
    Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

    6 votes

  12. Comment on A timeline of false “gender ideology” claims about the Charlie Kirk shooting in ~lgbt

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Thank you for being you!!

    Thank you for being you!!

    9 votes

  13. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Agreed! Bluh. This week has been exhausting!

    Agreed! Bluh. This week has been exhausting!

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

  15. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    That’s a fair point! Apologies - it’s been a rough day. I initially misread the column - I thought that Israel knew the location of the Hamas leaders because Trump was trying to set up...

    That’s a fair point! Apologies - it’s been a rough day.

    I initially misread the column - I thought that Israel knew the location of the Hamas leaders because Trump was trying to set up negotiations, and knew their locations.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Honestly? I may be wrong in my interpretation of this. It’s already been a week of far too much stuff going on.

    Honestly? I may be wrong in my interpretation of this. It’s already been a week of far too much stuff going on.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    source Trump is -as always- destroying any credibility the USA has in the international stage. It should never be assumed that he is acting in good faith on anything. He is the epitome of a piece...

    The strike came as Hamas leaders based in the Qatari capital, Doha, were weighing a new ceasefire proposal from the Trump administration. The White House said Israel had informed the U.S. before the strike and that it had in turn warned the Qataris.

    source

    Trump is -as always- destroying any credibility the USA has in the international stage. It should never be assumed that he is acting in good faith on anything.

    He is the epitome of a piece of shit.

    6 votes

  18. Comment on So was there no song of the summer this year? in ~music

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    I actually came to this thread looking for Disco Snails. Thank you. But, we’re likely in the same bubble.

    I actually came to this thread looking for Disco Snails. Thank you.

    But, we’re likely in the same bubble.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on ‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests in ~science

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    (Thank you for letting me know! :D)

    (Thank you for letting me know! :D)

    3 votes

  20. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    In terms of normal wear, the tumbling will accelerate wear a little, but not much. However, I’ve had a poorly-designed dryer in an apartment once, and it had a little hook on the inside of the...

    In terms of normal wear, the tumbling will accelerate wear a little, but not much.

    However, I’ve had a poorly-designed dryer in an apartment once, and it had a little hook on the inside of the drum that my clothes would catch on every now and then, and make a hole.

    It was definitely a bit infuriating.

    2 votes