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Off Key - General Discussion

A place to talk about whatever you want

2.1k Topics 14.9k Posts
  • Italian monuments...in LEGOs

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  • American Jurisprudence: Threatening Pizza Deliveries

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  • Deep fake -- perfect lip sync

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    AxtremusA
    I watched the movie "Watch the Skies." In English, presumably lip synced with this AI technology. Even forgetting about the AI stuff, it's actually a very good movie on its own right. It's not one that emphasizes great cinematography, so you don't necessarily need to watch it on a big screen. But it tells a good story with a lot of heart. So I highly recommend it.
  • My new bag

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    D
    Joe, thanks. I expect the recommendations will be very specific. I remember something about a paste from a video. I compartmentalize tasks like this and just haven't found the right time to figure it out yet. I bought an adult tricycle. It's 24", 1 speed, and folds in half. It has a basket in the back of course and I plan to use it to get exercise, go the mailboxes, haul garbage to the dumpsters, and I've decided I'll ride on the sidewalks to my nearest CVS and Publix a little more than a mile away when I get lights and reflectors to make it safe. It's not assembled yet. I made a deal with housemate to assemble it. The bike shops balked at doing it and offered me prices of $240 and $250. I couldn't pay that. That would be ridiculous. I haven't had a bike in forever. I'm looking forward to it.
  • The future as imagined in the 1950s

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    wtgW
    @Mik said in The future as imagined in the 1950s: Fallingwater writ large. No kidding! This came up in my feed this morning. From a house on the French Riviera that Sean Connery owned back in the 1970s: [image: im-12141289?width=784&size=1.3333333333333333&pixel_ratio=1.5] https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/sean-connerys-bond-villa-on-the-french-riviera-hits-the-market-for-23-5-million-4ba02d7a?mod=article_inline
  • Upcoming Mideast summit

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  • Suspend habeas corpus?

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    J
    The court isn't going to buy the whole invasion/AEA thing, period. Anywhere from 7-2 to 9-0.
  • DIY garden stuff

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    MikM
    [image: 1746836193147-img_4988.jpeg]
  • FEMA head is out

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    S
    This is the perfect opportunity for a little malicious obedience. Start with burying that guy in paperwork.
  • LOLcritters

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  • Letters to medical journals from the DOJ

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    wtgW
    Is there anyone left at Fox News?
  • No more Tesla stock for us!

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  • Energy Star program being eliminated

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    D
    I'll miss it. I thought it was good information to know when buying an appliance
  • What's cookin' at the LA County Fair

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    B
    @wtg I look forward to your verdict. I've been meaning to try it out.
  • Mississippi Miracle

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    wtgW
    Wow. Those are amazing results. Will Linda McMahon be known as the person who killed it? When Mississippi lawmakers in 2013 approved legislation to improve students’ basic reading skills, it fell to State Superintendent Carey Wright to make it happen. She ensured that all K-3 teachers were trained in the “Science of Reading” and hired literacy coaches at schools that had the highest percentage of low-achievers. guide the effort, Wright turned to the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast, based at Florida State University, one of 10 federally funded labs nationwide. Little-known even among many educators, the labs, created by Congress in 1965, work with states and school districts to implement research-based practices.​ By 2019, Wright and her colleagues had pulled off what is now known as the “Mississippi Miracle,” with students in this deep red state making greater literacy gains than in any other. Fourth-graders in Mississippi rose from 49th in the nation to 29th — adjusting for demographics, it now ranks near the top of the U.S. in both fourth-grade reading and math, behind just Florida and Texas, according to the Urban Institute. “They were huge partners with us,” Wright said of the lab in an interview this week. “It’s just this amazing group of researchers and content-area specialists.” But that distinction wasn’t enough to save the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast — or the nine other RELs, as they’re called. On Thursday, the U.S. Education Department announced that it had terminated $336 million in contracts with the labs, saying auditors had uncovered “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers.” The move has left researchers and literacy advocates shaking their heads. A director at a top research firm with many federal contracts, who asked not to be identified to avoid retaliation, said she got the sense from the sudden, broad cuts that “no one went in and took a really careful look at where the RELs were being helpful.” While some lab projects likely haven’t led to improvements in practices or student outcomes, she’s doubtful that department officials even pored over such data. “Someone decided that this whole program needed to go.” https://www.the74million.org/article/trump-cuts-research-lab-that-helped-nurture-mississippi-miracle/
  • I am totally making this. (Dandelion jelly)

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    C
    Bonne Maman is yummy. I try not to eat too much of their cherry preserves.
  • Freedom of the press

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    wtgW
    The Republican-led House on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Though all Democrats and one Republican — Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska — opposed the bill, Republicans narrowly passed the measure, 211-206, sending it to the Senate for a vote. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced the GOP bill after Trump signed an executive order in January that ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “take all appropriate actions to rename the Gulf” and update a database of the “official names for geographic features in the 50 states." Democrats, meanwhile, accused Republicans of ignoring more important matters while taking the time to evaluate this bill. "What might members of Congress under this temporary Republican majority be debating on the floor today?" House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., asked during debate ahead of the vote. "Would it be legislation about the economy? Something about healthcare, anything about social security? Perhaps something on public safety, maybe national security matters? Anything to bring to life the American dream for hardworking American taxpayers?" No," Jeffries continued, "What Republicans have decided to spend this entire legislative day doing is to debate a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico.” While Trump does not need congressional approval to ensure the name change is reflected across the federal government, the bill would prevent a future president from easily reversing the move through executive action. Bacon said Tuesday that he plans to vote "no," calling the legislative effort "juvenile." “We’re the United States of America. We’re not Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany or Napoleon’s France. I just — we’re better than this. It just sounds like a sophomore thing to do," Bacon told CNN. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-bill-codifying-trump-gulf-america-mexico-executive-order-rcna205501
  • My Brain Finally Broke

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    D
    My Dad gave me two pieces of good advice- keep your feet on the ground- and it pays to be a realist.
  • Good for the Greenlanders

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    wtgW
    Denmark's foreign minister says he will summon the US ambassador to address a report that Washington's spy agencies have been told to focus on Greenland amid Donald Trump's threats to take over the island. "It worries me greatly because we do not spy on friends," Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, responding to the report in The Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, US spy agencies were told to focus efforts on the semi-autonomous country's independence movement, and American goals to extract mineral resources there. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused the Journal of attempts to "undermine" President Trump "by politicizing and leaking classified information". While not denying the report, she accused the newspaper of "breaking the law and undermining our nation's security and democracy". Rasmussen, who was attending an EU ministers meeting in Warsaw, said the report was "somewhat disturbing". "We are going to call in the US acting ambassador for a discussion at the foreign ministry to see if we can confirm this information," Rasmussen said. "It doesn't seem to be strongly rejected by those who speak out. That worries me." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0eley5gy8wo