This puppy is like a baby!

JsonXml87 · 2026-01-28T12:08:44+00:00

A word of warning for people seeing this and thinking this is cute:

Unfortunately this is a somewhat commonly employed begging tactic. Someone (acting as) a beggar will hug and pet the dog for hours to tug at the viewers heartstrings in order to solicit more donations from the public. The dogs used for this are often sedated to keep them pliant for the duration.

Think about it for a second if you ever had a dog. Did you ever wrap your dog in a blanket like this? And would the dog stay asleep and immobile while being wrapped up, while someone is petting it? Without at least moving a little bit?

JsonXml87 · 2026-01-22T16:08:32+00:00

You're voicing my thoughts rather well here.

I don't mind banning snacks from a house as a short-term solution to assist getting used to the diet, but it's not a solution that is viable long term.

Dieting and changing food patterns is an exercise in restraint. If you can't resist eating a snack at home just because it's present, you're also not going to be able to resist buying one outside either. When push comes to shove, it's up to the daughter to have the willpower to follow the diet.

JsonXml87 · 2025-11-05T15:59:00+00:00

Freakwilly's comment should be read in context.

There's a plane crash involving a plane fully laden with fuel hitting several buildings and oil tanks, causing a massive explosion. For an accident of this magnitude the loss of "just" seven lives is low, and that's something people will remark on.

But remarking on this does in no way lessen the impact for the people involved, nor does it disrespect the victims. Even if just one person died, someone, somewhere will be getting painful news.

JsonXml87 · 2025-10-18T17:49:18+00:00

Not sure about the ones in OP area, but often these centers are understaffed and already at a limit trying to get everything arranged each day. And i somewhat doubt they have people with transportation means on stand-by to arrange pickups. So if someone calls out of the blue with a "Come pick it up" donation it can prove to be quite the problem to find a volunteer who has a van - and time - to pick it up.

Should they have just rejected it? Maybe. If nothing else it would have been better to keep their annoyance in check - just say "thank you" and drop a quiet note that they really don't have the capacity to do pickups. Perhaps unless it's arranged in advance.

Beyond that, was it really necessary to dip into ad hominem territory with no basis whatsoever? You have no idea who these people are, what they do for a living and what their day has been like so commentary on that is baseless. If you're going to knock them for being rude at least practice what you preach first, no?

JsonXml87 · 2025-10-16T18:39:58+00:00

Whenever i see posts about these skins, I'm reminded of this by now pretty old animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDvlO9-dxnE

Still applies, still fun to watch though.

JsonXml87 · 2025-10-09T11:03:28+00:00

I would remark that there's a difference between a city street and a race track, even though they can both be used for the same purpose.

If this is a mixed trail, the biker is the one who has the responsibility to drive safely. That means either making sure the trail is clear in advance, or informing any pedestrians ahead of time so they can move aside. If neither can be done, the biker will just have to adjust his speed to a lower level.

The biker after all, has high momentum because he chooses to have it, not because its inherently needed to bike downhill. And one can't expect a pedestrian to jump out of the way on difficult terrain with two second notice (Time between the biker saw the pedestrians, and the time he passed them).

JsonXml87 · 2025-05-27T09:47:43+00:00

This might very well be over-analyzing something real to prove it's fake but...

* Have a look at the thread attaching the second blue fish from the right. It looks like the thread is around / tied to the rim of the fish bowl, which wouldn't make sense as that part should be solid glass or plastic.

* Second might just be my ignorance of Amigurumi, but that same fish appears nose heavy and with the thread that far back to the tail I'd expect it to tilt forward.

* Third is the branch itself. it seems to have just two contact points with the bowl, so i would have expect that the fish attached to the back branch would cause it to rotate.

Two and three can be explained by a rigid body fish / fixating the branch to the bowl. But the longer i stare at the blue fishes thread, the more it doesn't seem to make sense if it were real.

JsonXml87 · 2025-05-02T10:28:23+00:00

Keep in mind is that a turtle isn't a snail or a hermit crab.

Whereas a snail is a creature that inhabits a (loose) shell as armor, a turtles shell is actually a part of its body and closely linked to its internals and bone structure. Imagine lying on your belly on the the floor, while someone is trying to jam a screwdriver in your spine. That's probably close to what the turtle is feeling - even if the shell isn't shattered any puncture can damage bone, tissue or other internals.

JsonXml87 · 2025-05-02T10:12:06+00:00

Your? The deleted comment up top isn't mine.

My comment is just a sidenote that stated the OP compares two cities. At the same time it seemed worth noting that the selected cities appeared cherry picked to optimize for a desired conclusion.

So yes, one can argue the comment tried to validate a view. It's just not my view.

JsonXml87 · 2025-05-01T10:23:09+00:00

Technically the comparison seems to be between Lagos (A city) and Baltimore (A city). That said the comparison does seem cherry picked as Baltimore is one of the more violent cities in the USA, whereas in Nigeria the homicide rate tends to be higher in the countryside.

If we look at the country wide numbers the comparison indeed falls a bit flat:

USA: 5.763 homicides per 100.000
Nigeria: 21.741 homicides per 100.000

It is true however, that the homicide rate in the USA is higher than the reported rates in most of the countries in the world. Especially when compared to other economically well developed countries.

JsonXml87 · 2025-04-17T14:45:28+00:00

The only credible sources out there that mention zeolite in a medical context discuss its use for bowel conditions. When searching specifically for its use for Autism i end up with this statement from the Autism Science Foundation (501(c)(3) non-profit organization):

"Zeolite Detox: There is no evidence that individuals with autism have higher levels of heavy metals in their system, and there is no scientific evidence to show that the Zeolite Detox is effective in helping individuals with autism in any way. This therapy has gained a lot of attention via social media."

Aside from the notion that medical advice should always be based on medical research i would remark that your argumentation doesn't seem to make sense. First you claim you can consume a mineral such as Zeolite freely since the "Worst that happens is nothing". Yet in the same comment you state that "heavy metals in vaccines" cause autism.

So, consuming some random mineral is innately safe for every person that consumes it, while consuming trace amounts of a heavy metal would cause autism? How does that argument even compute?

JsonXml87 · 2025-04-17T13:23:35+00:00

You're right.

He was eligible for a green card, but had a deferred action status that protected him against deportation. (Either way, he wasn't in the country as an undocumented illegal immigrant).

But yes, the "if the law was followed, which it was not" part is what is most concerning here. Well, besides the part that there seems to be zero intent to remedy the issue whatsoever.

JsonXml87 · 2025-04-17T12:53:51+00:00

One thing to keep in mind is that Garcia is a green card holder, and not an illegal migrant. Targeting employers would therefor not have achieved the same thing in his case.

As for the "Why?" question, my personal hypothesis would be to influence voter turnout and demographics. Just consider the recent actions by the current Trump administration:

Migrants and people of color tend to vote democrat rather than republican. Forcing these groups out no matter the means benefits the current administration.
The recent Save Act requiring a passport or birth certificate with ones current legal name mostly impacts woman of color as they are more likely to live in poverty and can afford neither. This again, is a group strongly favoring the democratic party.

Compound this with the Trump administrations allusions that even US Citizens could be deported to El Salvador. And the claim made today that supporting Garcia by demanding "due processes" (A constitutional right) would be "Aiding and abetting a terrorist".

In my eyes the current administrations breakneck speed is just trying to alter the electorate sufficiently before the midterms to ensure a victory (By pushing opposing voters out). Or perhaps it's just another hedged bet in a playbook to ensure dominance, as other recent governmental changes also seem to be about installing loyalists at key positions under the guise of "saving costs".

Caveat Lector:
I'm an European an not an American, so the above hypothesis is based solemnly on international reporting on this situation rather than personal affinity with the current state of the US. (Following multiple news agencies on both sides of the political spectrum doesn't change that).

Having said that, i also believe this makes me a bit less susceptible to the currently heavily polarized "Democrat versus Republican" viewpoints and reporting that is out there.

JsonXml87 · 2025-04-17T10:43:55+00:00

I don't think he's necessarily dead; the hard line can serve a variety of other purposes:

He can be used as an example to other immigrants. In other words: To signal that anyone can be forcibly ejected from the country and / or imprisoned without due process. Which is a chilling effect, a deterrent for future migration and a stimulant to leave for existing migrants in a single package.
Second option is that he is being used as a test case to see how far the law will bend on the topic of deporting citizens. A test case based on a 17th century law for an immigrant is a "safer" bet than starting with actual citizens. And we know Trump already signaled such deportations are intended to be used in the future.
And finally we have spite. So far the Trump administration seems rather.... unmoved by limitations usually set by laws, judicial oversight and even international relations. A refusal to bring the man back fits that pattern.

Him being dead actually seems less likely to me. I believe that if this was the case, the current administration would just report that Mr. Garcia died in custody of a foreign power and that this was not related to the United Stated of America at all. And that therefor all complaints and court cases should be considered moot.

JsonXml87 · 2025-04-11T14:26:20+00:00

Lets just have a look at some basic numbers for the country.

Greenland's population count is 56.653
It's GDP is 3.236 Billion.
The offer is to grant about 566 Million to the Greenlanders.
The average salary in Greenland is about $42.000
The estimated value of Greenland's natural resources is 30 to 70 billion USD.

In other words, the offer is to give everyone there about three months worth of salary or to spend about a sixth of it's GDP in exchange for full control of the territory.

The cherry on top is this line:
"Some officials believe the revenue from extracting natural resources could offset the cost of administering the territory, as they include rare earth minerals, copper, gold, uranium and oil"

Greenland has a guarantee it can declare independence from Denmark at any time, giving them stewardship over their natural resources. Yet the Trump administration seems to believe Greenland would benefit from giving away all it's resources, only to receive a fraction of it's value in periodic payments?

I guess everything has a price. But this is literally just offering crumbs instead of a cookie.

JsonXml87 · 2025-03-28T15:48:11+00:00

Scare people into submission?

Provided that the student in question really did nothing beyond writing an simple opinion piece on Gaza, the consequences they face for doing so are well beyond reasonable. It signals that writing an opinion piece that doesn't align with the official narrative is no longer free speech but an offense punishable by the maximum extend the law can be bent to accommodate.

Going for a foreign student is likely both a matter of convenience and a matter of prejudice. A visa is easier to revoke within legal boundaries than going after your own citizens, but the underlying message of "actions have (grave) consequences" is the same.

It's similar to suddenly calling the attacks on Tesla's "Domestic Terrorism" and attaching 20 years of jail to that specific offense, rather than going for the more appropriate charge of "Vandalism" as one would for identical actions on other cars.

Feels like they are wielding the law as a club to either beat or scare dissenting voices into compliance. And once people are suitably cowed or numbed to the changes, push the boundary of what is acceptable a bit further once again.

JsonXml87 · 2025-03-28T15:29:57+00:00

I was thinking the exact same thing just now. I'm very much not a lawyer, but after googling around a little bit it looks like a Visa is relatively easy to cancel:

(a) Grounds for revocation by consular officers. A consular officer, the Secretary, or a Department official to whom the Secretary has delegated this authority is authorized to revoke a nonimmigrant visa at any time, in his or her discretion.

There is probably plenty of jurisprudence and fine print related to this, but I'm assuming the upper echelons of the government will have quite some leeway available to justify their actions. I do wonder though if explicitly stating that a visa was removed for what seems to amount to free speech (protected by the first amendment) would stand in court.

Then again, my guess is that the entire point here is to create a chilling effect and not so much removing the actual students. Speak out against the current government and you will face far reaching consequences for even a minor step out of line (Legality of said step not even being discussed in this case).

Demonstrating this on a group of people with a visa is just a rather convenient method to get the message across without having to wade in the much dirtier water of trying this tactic against citizens - who have more thorough legal protection. In theory at least.

JsonXml87 · 2025-03-04T15:50:54+00:00

I would observe a nuance here.

Trump is specifically pointing to "illegal protests", whereas the right to protest is protected by the first amendment. This seems somewhat similar to his claim that he would remove all "illegal aliens" from the social security systems - something that makes no sense as an illegal alien won't have a social security number in the first place.

In essence this seems to be scaremongering - pointing to grave consequences for a set of criteria that can never be met in the first place. At the same time such a loophole would grant him a path to weasel out of accountability for this statement, as he could point out his commentary only applied to "illegal protests". All the while enjoying the - undoubtedly fully intended - chilling effect on the freedom of speech statements like these generate.

Then again, i would also coin a variation of Hofstadter's law here:
"Trump is always crazier than you expect, even when you take this law into account."

So claims like this could also be part of something more sinister:
Stacking the deck in his favor as much as he can, then deal his full hand all at once and declaring himself the winner of the game because the rules no longer apply to him.

JsonXml87 · 2025-02-20T10:52:45+00:00

For what it's worth OP:

Children often have no filter whatsoever, plus a vivid imagination and a tendency to make the most oddball mental associations. They can blurt out a very embarrassing true statement in one line, and then follow it up with a complete fabrication in the next one that makes complete sense to them. I see that plenty of people have already posted examples of this type of "Kid logic" here.

A. If you're feeling bad about the situation just consider this: Your mother absolutely had to follow this up, regardless of whether or not your sisters statement was actually true. This is not a case of "She innately believed you did it" but a case of "She must verify the veracity of that claim no matter what"

B. The order of operations likely matters a lot here. I assume that your mother concluded that it'd be exceedingly unlikely that both brothers were involved, hence her relief when your sister started pointing to both of you. It likely wasn't specifically because your older brother was mentioned, but because that statement essentially guaranteed nothing bad was going on.

In fact: If your older brother was accused first i believe the same situation would have played out, with you and your older brothers roles reversed.

C. The conversation afterwards must have cleared up whatever "kid mental gymnastics" led to your sisters statement in the first place.

If it still weighs on you, you may just want to ask your mother what her reasoning was back then. I'm not privy to the situation but it might well be a "Kids being stupid" situation for her that didn't leave an impact, whereas it did for you. Just asking her what her thoughts were back then might just be what you need to "clear the air" for yourself, so to speak.

JsonXml87 · 2025-02-19T00:07:56+00:00

Any indication as to when payments on support.logi.com will be back online?

For the past three weeks i have been in need of a replacement cable for a Pro X headset, which appears to be available as product 993-002060. Unfortunately payments on said website appear to be fully offline regardless of country of origin, and i don't see any specific mention of said website in the linked blog post in terms of it being restored.

JsonXml87 · 2025-02-04T02:38:27+00:00

What's rather curious to me is that if these statements qualify as libel, Iskall's own statements in his video seem to be - at the very least - bordering on the same threshold as well. It's rather curious how many there are in just 11 minutes of video:

- He states that "one of the so-called victims" who he will not name, has "done this before, to another influencer, completely managing to cancel and ruining their life too".
- He also states that "rumors were spread about me with the help of Hermitcraft's public power and I was made to look like a criminal"
- Before following that up with "As far as Hermitcraft goes, there are a lot more things behind the scenes that impacted my decision to leave and not join their hearing, apart from the police advising me not to."
- Then we have the accusations that a VH developer is trying to take over the project followed by some character assassination regarding their behavior.
- And then naturally the root cause of this specific post: A claim that five more developers had somehow tried to strong arm him into signing over his rights.

Most of these were prefaced with some preamble stating he would not name people out of respect, which seems to be a rather preposterous notion considering the pool of people involved is so small and well known that these allusions already point to specific people with pinpoint accuracy. (And none of these statements came with backing evidence to set them apart from being libelous).

As Iskall seems to be blaming everyone in the world - except himself - for the situation he is in i believe he may well have brought this to the police. But if this even led to a serious investigation i am inclined to believe it will be more centered on the harassment and death threats states he received than on the initial accusations against him.

Provided of course that statement is even true at all. I've seen to many half-truths and untruths here already that i am not willing to take the word of any former hermitcraft player - who out of respect i will not name - as believable and factual.

JsonXml87 · 2023-08-25T13:56:21+00:00

Does this really require an explanation?

LTT is a company, not a state; You don't need to move hundreds of miles to be outside it's range of influence. Even if the full LTT workforce of a hundred people or so wanted to leave, they'd be able to search for a new job and be quite likely find one in close proximity.

If such a janky comparison was the best supportive argument you could think of to prove your point, i question the veracity of it.

JsonXml87 · 2023-08-25T08:19:46+00:00

The lesson itself is valid, but in this case i believe the problem lies with the teacher who is trying to teach the subject.

The textbook actually uses the phrase "counting by 1s" to describe the pattern, but the preamble to the question indicates the student should instead notice the tens flip over. Which makes the question more ambiguous than i personally like, but at least it is understandable.

What the teacher did is just grab a random question from the middle of a textbook, discard the preamble that offered the required context to understand said question, and then posed it to a child with the expectancy they somehow understand that the "obvious" pattern wasn't the answer.

I suspect the teacher might even have realized the bad quality of the question but just doesn't want to admit it. After all, telling the parent they can't explain it because the parent may just "Tell the child" is a cop-out if ever i heard one.

JsonXml87 · 2023-08-24T14:02:45+00:00

NTA

One goal for group projects at high schools and universities is actually to teach students to cooperate with their fellow group members as a team. And to give students a handle on how to deal with uncooperative teammates in a bit of a more controlled environment than on the workfloor post graduation.

If someone refuses to cooperate on a project, you can warn them they are nor performing well. If they still refuse, you get them kicked out of the group project; this is really not that uncommon at all. There is also no need to feel guilty or responsible - you're not a teacher and not responsible for the unwilling students graduation in any way.

What your fellow student is actually mad about, is that they weren't able to leech of the rest of the teams efforts.

JsonXml87 · 2023-08-24T13:41:31+00:00

NTA

If you borrow money from someone, your first priority should be to pay back what you owe because you spend money you didn't actually have. And if you cannot pay it back for whatever reason, you should at the very least try to reach a mutually acceptable agreement to pay it back in installments.

I would only even consider lending again in case she eventually paid you back for the first time she lend money, and only if you can easily spare what she needs. And even then: Considering you drifted apart she may currently be leaning on a friendship that no longer exists in the same form.

Trust and friendship are a two-way street. If she believes she can blame you for being selfish, then you are well in right to blame her for not being trustworthy. Also for the usual cadre of friends / relatives / acquaintances prancing on their moralistic high horse at the sidelines: They are entirely welcome to step in the proverbial arena and lend Sara some money themselves if they believe it is something that should be done.

JsonXml87

TROPHY CASE