At a previous employer, we acquired another company that was about half our size, with a lot of potential overlap of locations, staff, etc.
The CEOs of the two merging firms held two town hall conference calls one Wednesday. I was having a slow week so I dialed in to both sessions.
On the first one, the CEO of my company said, "And to our new colleagues from Company XYZ, rest assured that things may change, but when the dust settles you will have a job here."
On the second call, he hit every single talking point from the first call, EXCEPT that one.
(And no, not everyone had a job when the dust settled.)
I always wondered what transpired in the three hours between the calls, and I think about that a lot whenever I hear an executive say something that I want to hear.
"With temperatures expected to plunge into dangerous territory beginning Thursday, Portland officials will activate the city’s winter warming center, a facility located well outside the downtown core and accessible primarily by shuttle.
The warming center, housed at 166 Riverside Industrial Parkway, will open on any night when temperatures fall to 15 degrees or below or when 10 inches or more of snow is forecast. On activation nights, the facility operates from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and can serve up to 60 adults needing emergency overnight shelter.
The site, already used as an migrant shelter, doubles as a winter refuge through a divided layout that separates the two populations. Those staying overnight will have access to beds, restrooms, and showers.
Because the building sits roughly five miles from downtown, the city will again rely on a free shuttle system to transport people to and from the warming center – a point of ongoing criticism from residents and service providers who say the remote location presents accessibility challenges.
Shuttles will operate from 7:30 p.m. to midnight and again from 4:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Riders can request pickup by calling 207-810-6727. During shelter hours, the General Assistance contact line is 207-482-5122.
City officials have defended the location, calling it the only workable option heading into winter despite continued concerns about distance, transportation gaps, and the strain on staff and emergency resources.
For now, with freezing temperatures approaching, the city’s temporary warming center will again serve as a critical, if imperfect, lifeline for Portland’s unhoused residents."
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge's Sean Hollister If you wrote off the Steam Frame as yet another VR headset few will want to wear, I guarantee you're not alone.
So much of conservatives' angry nostalgia for "how simple life used to be" in the good old days confuses a life-cycle effect (what is true of people at a certain age) with a period effect (what is true of everyone at a certain point in history).
October 25, 2023 Aggressive Nostalgia The Dark Side of Pining for the Good Old Days By Alfie Kohn “Time was when parents had their own authority about the rearing of children….There was no back talk…
Canonical announce Ubuntu Pro for WSL, bringing extended security coverage to users running Linux on Windows. As on desktop, it's free for personal use.
silly non-russian, you clearly misunderstand. russia is great at war! Long history of fighting and winning* them. You definitely don't want war with her, no sir! Ukraine, however, is a special military operation. russia is very, very bad at special military operation. Special military operation very different from war, many different words are used to describe the two almost opposing concepts. No similarities at all! /s
@Ben Royce 🇺🇦 🇸🇩 It tantamounts to war? The douche missed the news that it's already war, and that this plan is exactly because of that war..?
Or does he think this language will scare us? Russia's fantastic new missile, its Wunderwaffe, failed miserably in its first testlaunch yesterday. The Russian economy is down the drain.
Does he really think Russia is in a position to also start a war against Europe??
Agree, America under its current leader will probably not lift a finger if it does, but Russia would bite off much, much more than it can chew.
the problem is not that war with Europe would be stupid and insane. the problem is that they are stupid and insane. so the possibility of the preposterous is real
so Europe must delay, delay, delay. there is no value in rushing into it. and there is no value in denying it
and prepare, prepare, prepare. and give Ukraine everything. and then some more
the problem is that #russia will escalate the threats. and may even deliver. and thus europeans wring their hands and fret. and this is the doorway to submission
which, contrary to the belief, or denial, of many, only ensures conflict with russia
calling russia on their bluff is dangerous. but submitting weakly to their bluff and hesitating using the frozen assets is *more* dangerous. and enough europeans out there don't see that
I understand you. Russia depends upon meekness. They push and push and eventually there is no denying the inevitable because denying it means serious danger
I also understand those who want to delay. As long as they don't also submit. Unfortunately, there are those that do. And that is far more dangerous
@macacator @hans Russia has always had trouble with military logistics. They're pretty good at defense, but tend to struggle with pushing into new territory. Russia actually waging war on Europe is pretty unlikely, but if their intention is just obliteration, they might have that capability.
@StarkRG @hans because they are. Evil men will rule over scorched earth before accepting defeat. We all know Putin and Bibi are like this. Taco wants to be like this, but his brain and his balls keep slipping.
@macacator @StarkRG @hans I think, in the case of Vlad, it won't come to that because I think that if he tries to do something too suicidal for the country, someone nearby will just off him.
The problem is not so much dealing with an opponent who could /win/ a war, but one who simply doesn't care if *everybody* loses.
Even so, I don't think the threat of full on nuclear conflict has quite reached the level of the 1980s, but Russia *are* already engaged in hybrid warfare and destabilisation across the EU+UK, and as well as grooming the "manosphere" lads to committing crimes/terrorism, are leveraging divisions that already exist within European society by funding extreme right wing parties.
The way Europeans reacted to restrictions on freedom necessitated by the COVID pandemic doesn't bode well for how they would react to any wartime measures..
Is using drones to attack the airspace over European airports, “tantamount to war?” Was invading a sovereign country in spite of promises to protect that sovereignty in exchange for them giving up nuclear weapons, “tantamount to war.” If Russia wants peace, if they want their assets back, they can get out of Ukraine and stop attacking their neighbors. They can stop the cyber attacks. Until then, we need to stop talking about frozen assets, and start using reparations.
a drunk belligerent internet troll with his hand in the governance of a rabidly ethnofascist imperialist state is significant to listen to. not because we're idiots amplifying a troll, but because we need insight into the rabidly ethnofascist imperialist state
As the longest government shutdown hits 40 days, California's Gavin Newsom and Illinois’s JB Pritzker sharply oppose the Senate’s tentative deal to reopen, calling it a “surrender” and “empty promise” for lacking immediate Obamacare subsidies. Despite enough Democratic senators supporting the measure to clear a filibuster, top Democrats like Schumer plan to vote no, criticizing Republicans for rejecting key health care extensions. The deal, promising a December vote on Obamacare, is seen by critics as a weak capitulation that fails to deliver on essential healthcare protections. Will this bipartisan agreement hold? More details: https://www.thedailybeast.com/gavin-newsom-slams-pathetic-shutdown-deal-as-surrender/ #GovernmentShutdown #Healthcare #Bipartisan #Obamacare #Politics #Senate #Democrats #Republicans
"Trump🚨keeps talking fraud case in MN to smear Somali Americans when in reality THE architect of the fraud was Aimee Bock-a white woman convicted in March of "masterminding a brazen scheme that reaped >$240M in pandemic relief funds." -D Obeidallah
Mr Mayor. I've made something special for your people. So, we can brain chip someone, and we could grow clones when I was in high school 20 years ago, and we can brain chip the clone. They can control the clone body, and when the clone body receives signal (brushes a wall, falls down, etc) the chips can relay that to the real brain. Then we can put that real brain in a deep dark hole. With some antennae sticking up. The transmission would have to be done over a satellite connection. But you know what this means? Immortality. And that's a crucial step if I want to lock your people up forever, and REALLY let them experience it. The most expensive part of this is the clone body.
And i need you to pass an ordinance that lets me do that here. At least to people that accrue more than 100 years. Without consent. If you do enough to get over 100 years in jail, and I can show it, the chip is not your decision anymore.
We may also be able to stimulate one of both brains in a way that slows down someone's perception of time. These hill people need a long time to think about the error of their ways.
Others, will go on to become Gundam, living in Space, like 100 ft steel Gods. As one does.
Since the beginning of the year, the federal government has been accelerating its war on the American left, targeting dissent with loose terminology and reaching for legislative and executive tools created at the turn of the century with the War on Terror.
Prairieland, TX – A sprawling court case from a protest at an immigration detention center could determine how the United States government deals with dissent.
Whether this political strategy amounts to anything more than rhetoric could revolve around the outcome of the Prairieland case, which could set a precedent for bringing cases against individuals and organizations that the government labels as terrorists.
Much of the strategy was spelled out in National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7), a memorandum on countering domestic terrorism and organized political violence that was released on Sept. 25. The memorandum outlined “common threads” that animate a supposed rise in political violence: anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity; “extremism” on migration, race and gender; and hostility towards individuals who “hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”
Prairieland, TX – A sprawling court case from a protest at an immigration detention center could determine how the United States government deals with dissent.
The pitch is great: Let’s take a car culture waste product that would otherwise be burned and instead turn it into a barrier to protect the lives of people biking. That’s the concept behind Pretred’s new Paceline barriers, which were designed with bike lanes in mind initially in response to Seattle’s trouble acquiring enough pre-cast concrete barriers for SDOT’s ongoing “even better bike lanes” project. The company used the SDOT order as the impetus to invest in the design and tooling to create these Paceline barriers, which are now for sale to any place that wants them.
Pretred Sales Manager Matt Dunn told Seattle Bike Blog that the Paceline barriers are now “the only U.S.-made bike lane barrier that is more significant than a curb and less significant than a full wall.” The project was personal for Dunn, who was hit by a car while riding his bike. “I wish these barriers would have been there when that happened,” he said, noting, “We’re all cyclists in this office.”
Dunn credited Cascade Bicycle Club Executive Director Lee Lambert with connecting SDOT and Pretred. The department had purchased as many of the precast concrete barriers as were available, but it still wasn’t enough. If Pretred can produce a barrier that is competitive with concrete, that would be a win for all North American cities because it would mean more supply and more competition in the market. Concrete creation also requires a lot of energy and is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Burning tires also releases a lot of greenhouse gasses. Pretred sells itself as a more environmentally-friendly option both for creating barriers and for recycling tires. The company started in 2020 selling what they call Colorado barriers, which can be used either in place of a Jersey barrier or as a base to support weight.
When fully rebuilding a road engineers can include curbs and barriers from the start, such as the new bike lanes along the waterfront. We cannot wait for full roadway rebuild projects to build out our city’s bike network, so we need tools for medium-term bike lane installs for the time between now and the street’s next major repaving project. Sometimes referred to as “Toronto barriers” for some reason, pre-cast concrete barriers are an excellent option for creating a significant barrier on an existing road surface. The Toronto-style barriers are shorter and skinnier than a highway-style Jersey barrier but provide significantly more deterrence than plastic reflective posts. Cities like Seattle need a barrier that protects bike lanes from motor vehicles without making streets look and feel like highways, and this is a tricky balance. DOTs would also like to avoid the need for constant maintenance.
The new tire-based barriers are a different take on the concept. The come in segments two feet long that link together. The 80-pound segments are lighter than concrete, making them easier to install and to move by hand if necessary, but this also means they are easier for motor vehicles to displace. They lie somewhere between a parking stop and a Toronto barrier, which could be the sweet spot cities are looking for if they can prove durable and effective under the strains of city streets. The material cost is about $24 per foot plus additional costs for the end treatments of each connected segment, Dunn said. Agencies can install posts on the blocks for either signage or additional reflectors, though SDOT did not do so as part of this project. Some reflective plastic posts might not be a bad idea, especially on curves and end points where strikes are more likely, though each block does have front and rear reflectors.
When struck, the tire barrier segments may get gouged but hopefully will be less likely to fully crack and fail. If they do fail, crews should be able to use regular work vehicles and tools to replace the damaged segments more quickly and easily. Concrete barriers are so heavy that they require a forklift or similar piece of machinery to move and install, which could lead to longer waits for repairs as we saw with the bike lane on the Airport Way bridge near Georgetown recently. The barrier was struck (and did its job!), but a section was left sticking into the bike lane for a while before crews could repair it.
The tire-based barriers may not leave as much damage on any vehicles that strike it, but they also should not be as difficult to repair. We don’t need to imagine what this would look like because the test segment has already experienced its first major strike. I went down to Campus Parkway to check it out and found a section under the bridge that clearly got hit by something significant. Not sure if it was a car, truck or bus, though the level of damage makes me think it could have been something more on the bigger side. Bolts were bent and multiple barriers seemed to split at the bolt-mounting point. One barrier section was totally destroyed and was sitting on the roadside. In all, five or six of the segments were damaged. But because of their size and weight, they were not left blocking the bike lane in the meantime, which is nice.
Environmental benefits and concerns
The U.S. wears out a hell of a lot of tires, which are notoriously difficult to dispose of. When burned, they produce a relatively low amount of heat for a long time. That’s why tire fires can last so long. They also release a lot of nasty stuff into the air.
There have been many attempts to find other creative and profitable uses for tire waste, including using tire crumbs as part of an artificial athletic or playground surface. The EPA, CDC and CPSC have been studying the possible health impacts of these surfaces, though there don’t seem to be any clear conclusions yet (though we know it’s bad for kids to eat them). Tires contain a lot of harmful chemicals, researchers just don’t know the extent that using tires in play surfaces might lead to harmful exposure. Meanwhile, researchers at UW have identified a tire chemical — 6PPD-quinone — that is likely a major cause coho salmon population decline. The chemical gets into waterways through wear and tear from cars and trucks driving on roadways.
I asked Dunn if these tire-based barriers might contribute to the problem of tire chemicals in waterways, and he said the blocks are designed to keep tire chemicals contained within them. However, as with any tire those elements could be released if they are broken or crushed. The blocks are made of about 90% tire “crumb,” then Pretred uses polyurethane to encapsulate it and hold it together. When they are just sitting there getting rained on, they are designed not to release tire chemicals into the runoff, he said.
TIL that Andes Mints were named after their creator, Andrew Kanelos. He changed the name from Andy's to Andes after coming to the realization that his male customers were uncomfortable handing boxes of candy to their girlfriends that had another man's name printed on it.
With hundreds of satellites launched each year and tens of thousands more planned, scientists are increasingly concerned about an emerging problem: emissions from the fuels burned in launches and from the pollutants released when satellites and rocke…
Ok so if I have a bunch of dragon fabric (I do) and if I make a bunch of bags out of it (I will) and I post them all online at the same time, is that a dragon drop?
Content warning: Hazards of open carry, itchy trigger finger, Utah No Kings Protest, guns
Y'know I followed this case since it happened but I completely missed that apparently the OTHER armed "peacekeeper" there made a statement that he didn't take a shot at Gamboa because it would have been too dangerous with him running into a crowd. Worried about doing exactly what Alder ended up doing.
We were born into burning forests, melting ice caps, and timelines that refresh faster than the planet can breathe. We did not choose this chaos — but we will choose what happens next.
They told us we are the future. But the future is already on fire.
We are the generation of algorithms and anxiety, of streaming wars and real wars, of infinite content and finite resources.
And still — they expect us to stay quiet.
We won’t.
Because being the “intelligent species” doesn’t mean building better weapons, faster apps, or bigger lies. It means protecting the one system we cannot replace: this planet.
There is no backup Earth. No cloud storage for oceans. No reset button for extinct species.
We reject the illusion that destruction is progress. We reject comfort built on collapse. We reject a system that teaches us how to profit — but not how to survive.
They taught us to compete. We choose to protect.
They taught us to consume. We choose to preserve.
They taught us to look away. We choose to see everything.
This is not about guilt. This is about power.
Because the truth is: We are the most connected generation in history. Which means we can be the most dangerous — to injustice, to greed, to the lie that nothing can change.
We will not be remembered for our filters. We will be remembered for our decisions.
And we choose this:
To fight for clean air like it’s a human right. To defend the oceans like they are part of our bloodstream. To protect forests like they are our final servers of life.
We are not too young. We are not too late. We are exactly on time.
If this really is the last generation that can stop the collapse — then we will not go quietly into the end credits.
We will rewrite the ending.
Not with violence. Not with apathy. But with relentless pressure, fearless imagination, and the refusal to accept a dead world as normal.
We are not here to inherit a graveyard. We are here to defend a future.
This is our line in the sand. This is our warning. This is our promise.
We reject the illusion that destruction is progress. We reject comfort built on collapse. We reject a system that teaches us how to profit — but not how to survive. They taught us to compete. We choose to protect. They taught us to consume. We choose to preserve.
This is the kind of "conservatism" that I have long ascribed-to.
TIL that a 71-year-old man in Rwanda, Callixte Nzamwita, says he has lived in complete isolation for 55 years due to an extreme fear of women known as gynophobia.
![A social media post by juanbris. The post says "to commemorate alan dye moving from apple to meta, here's one of his best quotes"
Attached to the post is a photo. The background is of part of the rainbow colored rings in Apple Park and the morning sun shines very brightly around them. Above the background is a Liquid Glass container with text, but due to the bright background half of the text is unreadable. The text is: "Design is not just what it looks [unreadable] Design is how it [unreadable] - Alan [unreadable]"](https://f.kawa-kun.com/photo/preview/640/5058555 "A social media post by juanbris. The post says \"to commemorate alan dye moving from apple to meta, here's one of his best quotes\"
Attached to the post is a photo. The background is of part of the rainbow colored rings in Apple Park and the morning sun shines very brightly around them. Above the background is a Liquid Glass container with text, but due to the bright background half of the text is unreadable. The text is: \"Design is not just what it looks [unreadable] Design is how it [unreadable] - Alan [unreadable]\"")
Amy Rose
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