Posts by JosephMeyer@c.im
(DIR) Post #AxnKxAA4Jv4QzFWj20 by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-02T11:48:50Z
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I am inspired by @futurebird this morning to pick a favorite bug. I think the dragonfly will be my bug, since I enjoy seeing them fly back and forth across my yard in the evening, presumably eating mosquitoes. The mosquito is not my bug, though I seem to provide just the right amounts of carbon dioxide and heat to be its preferred human being. #Insects #Bugs #Nature #Photography
(DIR) Post #AxwwVlOZpwWt2SJY7U by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-07T01:00:20Z
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@futurebird It’s lucky those queen ants live in Sicily instead of Texas where lawmakers would frown on their behavior.
(DIR) Post #Axxc9OHnGxY54P9j5E by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-07T10:42:27Z
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@Doug_Bostrom @futurebird Having read this morning about two miracles attributed to Carlo Acutis, who was canonized by Pope Leo, I think many would consider this momma ant giving birth to a baby ant of a different species to be subjectively more miraculous than Acutis’ dubious feats of healing.
(DIR) Post #Ay01AcITYGqPz54mA4 by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-08T14:34:37Z
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@futurebird Well put. I might get in trouble for putting this in writing here on the Fediverse, but it seems a rare combination for technical persons who create and manage high-tech companies that now contribute a large share of the U.S. economy to have high empathy and communication skills in addition to their technical expertise. I’ll back up my statement with an endorsement from my wife, a talented human resources professional. There are persons with such crossover skills, but they are the exception. If you find them, hire them and don’t ever let them go.
(DIR) Post #Ay5BmFROwtDrQwdKNs by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-11T02:01:56Z
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@futurebird His name seemed vaguely familiar to me. A web search refreshed my memory that he founded Turning Point USA which regrettably had a presence at the public university where I worked. Then I learned that my son admired him. That was disturbing to me, of course. My wife and I both emphasized empathy and our dislike of guns throughout his childhood. So of course our son is fearful, a gun owner, and gullible. Much of it must be due to nature, his inherent personality. <Sigh>
(DIR) Post #AyAzYEQRtUczjFUtto by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-13T21:08:47Z
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@publicvoit Do you think Brian Kilmeade be fired for saying those words? At the end of a neuroscience presentation that pointed out a link between antisocial behavior and some psychiatric illnesses, I was expecting a conclusion to be that persons with troubling and incurable behaviors caused by organic illness should be housed in non-punitive settings rather than the prisons where many are now. It seems like the humane thing for a society to do. Instead, I heard a PhD student in the neuroscience program say such persons should be locked away forever. I was shocked and appalled. But, perhaps such are the ideas one should expect from scientists and journalists who have antisocial personalities.
(DIR) Post #AyHKhwHqCc9qEvKrZ2 by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-16T21:55:17Z
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@detondev Does the one on the bottom-left express “chuffed?”
(DIR) Post #AyMmM4uAdnT7S0e8QK by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-19T14:06:40Z
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@kaia Your caption is the best I’ve seen in a while. 😀 💯 ⭐️
(DIR) Post #AyUtWBA5ILBK6oA0EC by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-23T11:44:20Z
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@Nonilex It is disheartening that leaders of colleges and universities are bowing down to attacks on academic freedom to keep their jobs. Belief in core ethical principles is more important than career aspirations. But, apparently, few administrators agree.
(DIR) Post #Ayc68ezPP36LB90BYe by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-09-26T22:54:50Z
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@futurebird Texas horned lizards, which rely almost entirely on declining red harvester ants as their food source, might send you a thank you note if they could.
(DIR) Post #Ayv6GLaR7LlTK2E2XA by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-10-06T01:42:08Z
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@futurebird If I were an ant, I might have answered differently and in favor of exploring caves.
(DIR) Post #Azv8wMkdWM1Nw3pVSa by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-11-05T01:59:34Z
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@futurebird I wish they were tears of joy, which can be a byproduct of new and profound understanding. But there are other worthy fields of study if mathematics is not one’s forte.
(DIR) Post #AzvCFJFT4GMmR7yXYG by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-11-05T02:36:38Z
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@futurebird Indeed. My late uncle, Harry J. Kamack, was one such person. He coauthored an unpublished manuscript, Rubik’s Tesseract, which Douglas Hofstadter mentioned briefly in one of his books. I think it was noted in Metamagical Themas. I am weak in math and remember a family conversation where my late uncle said, “I don’t understand why people struggle with math when it is so logical.” Well, it was to him and was not to me.
(DIR) Post #B1LHJvzKe7yeBEXVOy by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-12-17T14:28:06Z
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@Nonilex A pretty good article. One thing Donald Trump and Rick Reiner may have in common is psychiatric illness. We can’t know with any certainty whether behavioral symptoms of illness were motivating for the Reiner murder or whether they motivate Trump’s behavior. But it is possible and is something we should try to keep in mind when judging their actions. Is my own behavior different from theirs because of superior morality, or because I have a healthy mind that never considers such actions? But for the grace of a healthy brain there go I, perhaps.
(DIR) Post #B1Ye5EQ2vhJlT3E8AK by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-12-24T01:14:23Z
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@futurebird My oldest child’s baby tooth.
(DIR) Post #B1bxkQOxlTgh6gxKeu by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-12-25T15:38:50Z
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@futurebird The last time I went caroling, many years ago when I was still religious, a homeowner answered his door and said, “we’re trying to have a party here and don’t want to be interrupted.” Bah, humbug!
(DIR) Post #B1eu3Fgm0BAz2dt8sK by JosephMeyer@c.im
2025-12-27T01:41:31Z
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@futurebird 1. Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band 2. Antmusic by Adam & The Ants3. Five Hungry Ants by The Kiboomers
(DIR) Post #B1rLUbADIPnq7fRTc0 by JosephMeyer@c.im
2026-01-02T01:45:34Z
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@futurebird No, but when I read a story years ago about a guy making a counterfeit postage stamp from his own photo and mailing a letter to a friend using it, I was tempted to try it myself.
(DIR) Post #B2OMUi0f26iyZvaHFA by JosephMeyer@c.im
2026-01-18T00:02:17Z
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@futurebird Perhaps you should make Douglas Hofstadter aware of these bowls. I stumbled across a short video interview of him on YouTube, recently, and he said he is now more interested in art than science.
(DIR) Post #B2YP63AzAFTgAIUqTw by JosephMeyer@c.im
2026-01-22T19:41:38Z
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#TIL the “pull-my-finger” prank seems known by humans on many continents. #Poll Complete this statement: I am familiar with the pull-my-finger prank and live in…