rosco's recent activity

  1. Comment on What’s a book about your area that you think would be interesting to people outside of it? in ~books

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Awesome! The only one I've found that tickles a similar itch by him is a collection of short stories called The Long Valley. They have that same kind of oddity about them.

    Awesome! The only one I've found that tickles a similar itch by him is a collection of short stories called The Long Valley. They have that same kind of oddity about them.

  2. Comment on What’s a book about your area that you think would be interesting to people outside of it? in ~books

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Seconding Cadillac Desert, great read!

    Seconding Cadillac Desert, great read!

  3. Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    The NSF portal is still down so it may be ad hoc which are funding again and which aren't.

    The NSF portal is still down so it may be ad hoc which are funding again and which aren't.

    16 votes
  4. Comment on What’s a book about your area that you think would be interesting to people outside of it? in ~books

    rosco
    Link
    Any of Steinbeck's greatest hits. Most people know Cannery Row, East of Eden, or Grapes of Wrath, so my suggestion will be Tortilla Flat. It's such a fun book that gives insight into cultures that...

    Any of Steinbeck's greatest hits. Most people know Cannery Row, East of Eden, or Grapes of Wrath, so my suggestion will be Tortilla Flat. It's such a fun book that gives insight into cultures that aren't often highlighted as part of California's history. It also spawned this awesome video project by Beau Miles. It's short, fun, and a perfect cozy winter read!

    4 votes
  5. Comment on Snacks that aren't just sugar or crazy salty in ~food

    rosco
    Link
    This granola right here!!! Just sub out the pecans for more pumpkin seeds. It is delicious and very easy to make.

    This granola right here!!! Just sub out the pecans for more pumpkin seeds. It is delicious and very easy to make.

    3 votes
  6. Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Amazing! I know this is probably a stupid question, but any idea of where to start? (maybe even as edit would suffice if you're rate limited?)

    You may need to look in your local community for those groups and reach out. The "protest" isn't the only action of a movement! It requires a lot of prep work, legal action, and community outreach.

    Amazing! I know this is probably a stupid question, but any idea of where to start? (maybe even as edit would suffice if you're rate limited?)

    7 votes
  7. Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I have that thought too. Just anecdotal impacts from my life: Our company is heavily funded by NSF and we no longer have access to their payments platform. Our payroll will be blocked by Feb...

    Yeah, I have that thought too.

    Just anecdotal impacts from my life:

    1. Our company is heavily funded by NSF and we no longer have access to their payments platform. Our payroll will be blocked by Feb 23rd if things don't change. We're actively looking into short term loans.
    2. Our Mexican friends on visas or green cards are now making plans for if they get detained by ICE, even though they are legally here. They are also reconsidering attending Gaza protests (as one of the Mexican women is married to a Palestinian man) because they are post docs on student visas and that is now illegal, despite the executive order being illegal.
    3. Another work issue is that access to federal data on .gov websites is now being restricted. We pulled down data on ciguatera last week for a project and went to gather more data only to find the entire NIH/CDC website is down. This is one of the few that may not be coming back online. So fuck preventative disease mapping I guess
    4. Two of our employees have parent's that were federal employees that have takes Trump's deal and work for the VA. We're losing federal employees and they aren't likely to get the payouts as promised.

    I think the impacts this time feel unprecedented. And from what I'm reading, many of the orders are illegal but will take time to litigate.

    47 votes
  8. Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Totally could be, but I'm reminded of 2020, when a lot of us were burnt out, exhausted, and feeling very unstable financially. Maybe all the extra time was the push then?

    Totally could be, but I'm reminded of 2020, when a lot of us were burnt out, exhausted, and feeling very unstable financially. Maybe all the extra time was the push then?

    6 votes
  9. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental

    rosco
    Link
    Woof, what a week! On a person enjoyment level this week is up there with some of the best: our oceans have been suuuper clear and calm, which mean my morning swims have been incredible. I've swam...

    Woof, what a week! On a person enjoyment level this week is up there with some of the best: our oceans have been suuuper clear and calm, which mean my morning swims have been incredible. I've swam with harbor seals, otters, and even whales this week! It was also awesome for tide pooling - so many nudibranchs and even an octopus! Annnd it was my birthday and friends came out of the wood work to celebrate! We hosted a Chinese New Year dumpling/birthday party last night that just made me feel so loved and so tied into my community. I even had a bunch of happy birthday cards from folks I'm not too tight with from around the community including other swimmers, some volleyball folks, and people I'm on local commissions with. I've never experienced that and it was really lovely.

    Buuuuuut, the week still sucked. Holy shit what an unmitigated nightmare with Trump. Our company is heavily funded by NSF and we've had an absolutely shit show trying to pull down our next tranche of funding - including our employee's payroll for the next 6 months. I'm pretty nervous I'll need to get creative in the next few weeks and transfer my own money into that account to make payroll while we wait for the portal to open back up. There may be a lot of tax implication though. Also we have a postdoc starting on Monday we're all super excited about, but her position is through an NSF sponsored DEI initiative. So as much as we're being reassured it's fine, it doesn't feel like it will be. She is awesome and it's so frustrating that she's having to go through so much instability. There isn't much I can do on our end except try to get legally binding assurances.

    On top of that, a good number of our friends are Mexican citizens who now live in the US on student/work visas for their research or have married US citizens and now live here. In every case they are some of the nicest, most community minded folks I know who are actively working to make our area better. Some are doing kelp research to provide guidance to the establishment or management of our marine protected areas, others run programs that get students into the local backcountry via backpacking and camping - and in many cases is there first experience doing anything like that. One of them is Samuel, the friend who I talked about in the "Who is in your corner" post. While they are all here legally, they are having to figure out what to do if they do get picked up, they've all started carrying their green card or visa, and we've made plans as a community of what to do if something does happen. Just yesterday Samuel called his wife a few times at noon and then didn't pick up when she called back. This sent her into a flurry of worry because ICE agents have been raiding in our area so she called me to see if I had talked to him and see if I could check if he was working from home. It turned out he had gone for a run, but the whole thing just highlighted the level of stress their family is under right now. It's so fucked up! Sam does nothing but support and better our little town and even county, and yet him and is family are having to shoulder this ridiculous burden.

    I'm seething. The last time Trump took office it took forever to feel tangible impacts. It happened within 3 days this time. And they are significant impacts. I'm mad that our elected leaders are making milquetoast responses to the executive orders. I'm sick of seeing folks blaming the people who abstained because of Gaza. I'm just fucking sick of all of it, and we're on day like 9. The thought of dealing with 4 years of this bullshit, and escalating bullshit, just fucking exhausts me. There is so much opportunity for a just, stable, and happy world. But no, a few rich fuckers won't let us have it.

    I'm trying to hold onto the positive things in my life, as there are so many of them, but it's hard when we're sitting in this aura of shit.

    15 votes
  10. Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig?

    Maybe that's the point of a blitzkreig, but I'm thinking back to 2016 where we saw huge numbers of people taking to the street - the Women's March, anti-Trump marches - to show displeasure for...

    Maybe that's the point of a blitzkreig, but I'm thinking back to 2016 where we saw huge numbers of people taking to the street - the Women's March, anti-Trump marches - to show displeasure for Trump even being elected. In 2020 we saw some of the largest protests ever for BLM, potentially because folks had time to tune in and turn up because of the pandemic. But right now we're seeing an absolute assault on our institutions and it's up against absolute silence. I'm not trying to throw stones, I'm not out demonstrating either. Mostly because there isn't one to join. Does anyone have a theory or understand why we aren't seeing any public mobilization?

    53 votes
  11. Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Ah, I still reply it through my N64 and curse my way through every time.

    Ah, I still reply it through my N64 and curse my way through every time.

  12. Comment on Restaurants close across China in ~food

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I'm assuming there is probably a much looser definition of what a "restaurant" is as well. If you've ever seen the Chinese night markets, I wonder if those stalls would classify.

    I'm assuming there is probably a much looser definition of what a "restaurant" is as well. If you've ever seen the Chinese night markets, I wonder if those stalls would classify.

  13. Comment on Restaurants close across China in ~food

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I think I can weigh in as an english speaker who didn't know what involution meant before this conversation but I think I understand Notcoffeetable's point: The most direct translation for the...

    I think I can weigh in as an english speaker who didn't know what involution meant before this conversation but I think I understand Notcoffeetable's point: The most direct translation for the Chinese word is involution, so it's the one they use. Like if I was speaking to a Spanish speaker and I looked up the translation for the word I wanted to use and ended up on a weird, obscure word most of them don't know. It happened a lot when I lived in Spain, I think it's just a symptom of colloquial language diverging from "proper" grammar. It's super confusing, I'm right there with you, but I think it's understandable if you learn english from a text book rather than on the street.

    2 votes
  14. Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games

    rosco
    Link
    I think it's the same qualm as most folks. I would change the water temple in Zelda: Ocarina of Time so you don't need to take off and put on those stupid boots.

    I think it's the same qualm as most folks. I would change the water temple in Zelda: Ocarina of Time so you don't need to take off and put on those stupid boots.

    5 votes
  15. Comment on Looking for a visualization of North American political boundaries over time in ~humanities.history

    rosco
    Link Parent
    There is actually a really awesome mapping project called "Native Land Digital" that has mapped the different regions for the majority of tribes in the US. It's pretty sweet.

    There is actually a really awesome mapping project called "Native Land Digital" that has mapped the different regions for the majority of tribes in the US. It's pretty sweet.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Besides Shawshank Redemption, what films do you like that feature grit, resilience, endurance under hostile circumstances? in ~movies

  17. Comment on While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he’ll send ‘worst’ criminal migrants to Guantanamo in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    Motherfucker Genuine question, with all that is happening and all that is getting passed, what methods of response do the average citizen have? I know we can demonstrate, call our reps, and...

    Motherfucker

    Genuine question, with all that is happening and all that is getting passed, what methods of response do the average citizen have? I know we can demonstrate, call our reps, and then... what? Check one and check two, and now I have no idea what to do.

    6 votes
  18. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 27 in ~society

    rosco
    Link Parent
    I keep seeing that ruling referenced, but when I go to our Award Cash Management $ervice portal, where we draw down funding from the National Science Foundation, I get this error response. So......

    I keep seeing that ruling referenced, but when I go to our Award Cash Management $ervice portal, where we draw down funding from the National Science Foundation, I get this error response. So... yeah, I'm not confident anything is working.

    Also for reference, this is the direct outreach I've had from NSF:

    MESSAGE to the NSF PI Community,

    Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-25-13, issued on January 27, 2025, directs all Federal agencies to conduct a comprehensive review of their financial assistance programs to determine programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by the recent Executive Orders. Therefore, all review panels, new awards, and all payments of funds under open awards will be paused as the agency conducts the required reviews and analysis. NSF has created an Executive Order Implementation webpage to ensure the widest dissemination of information and updates. We will continue to communicate with you as we receive additional guidance.

    All NSF grantees must comply with these Executive Orders, and any other relevant Executive Orders issued, by ceasing all non-compliant grant and award activities. Executive Orders are posted at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/. In particular, this may include, but is not limited to conferences, trainings, workshops, considerations for staffing and participant selection, and any other grant activity that uses or promotes the use of DEIA principles and frameworks or violates Federal anti-discrimination laws. Please work with your institutional research office to assist you in complying with the Executive Orders. You can also direct your questions through the form on this NSF webpage.

    Thank you for your work advancing science, engineering, technology and innovation for our nation.

    Sethuraman Panchanathan
    Director

    1 vote
  19. Comment on The army of God comes out of the shadows in ~society

    rosco
    Link
    At what point do organizations like this tip from "religious" to "cult" and see state based intervention. A lot of the rhetoric in that article feels like we're verging on religious/political...

    At what point do organizations like this tip from "religious" to "cult" and see state based intervention. A lot of the rhetoric in that article feels like we're verging on religious/political violence.

    Tell them, ‘I’ve got a kid who is saying we need to serve other gods. Can you help me kill him?’ ”

    15 votes
  20. Comment on What's a song that you initially didn't enjoy, but it grew on you over time and is now a favorite? in ~music

    rosco
    Link
    I can be a bit of a contrarian, so for me it's usually pop songs. They'll go from things I turn my nose up at, to songs that I will play on repeat for literal days. Top examples include:...

    I can be a bit of a contrarian, so for me it's usually pop songs. They'll go from things I turn my nose up at, to songs that I will play on repeat for literal days. Top examples include:

    8 votes