Brian Sniffen

GAT d+ s+: a C++ UM++++ P--- E++ W++ N+ o+ w--- Y++ 5++ R++ tv-- b+++

[Andy Ellis @csoandy]

I haven’t been diligent with Daf Yomi – the daily study of a page of Talmud – but I’ve been looking forward to today’s page, Bava Metzia 59, for the 4+ years of this cycle. It is, without a doubt, the greatest legal work in the history of humanity, and the foundational text for all rights and liberty based ideals.

It starts out really boringly: an argument between the rabbis about whether an oven (one built of unmortared bricks with sand as a filler) is impure or not. As is usual in the Talmud, the rabbis disagree: there is a majority view (it’s impure), and a minority view (it’s pure), held by the minority of one: Rabbi Eliezer.

Normally, this would be the end of the tale, maybe with an argument on each side for later reference. But not today.

The Talmud makes very clear that Rabbi Eliezer had good arguments for every objection, and that he’s probably correct on the merits. But we don’t stop there! Eliezer begins summoning miracles. A carob tree is uprooted. A stream flows backwards. The walls begin to lean in. Still, the other rabbis are unswayed.

Finally, Eliezer appeals to the Almighty, whose Voice tells the rabbis that Eliezer is correct.

Think about this: the rabbis have just been instructed by their deity on a point of religious law. In any other polity at this time, or, really, ever, the story ends with everyone agreeing with Eliezer.

But not here.

In Bava Metzia 59, Rabbi Yehoshua stands up to Adonai, and rebukes the Almighty.

“It is not in Heaven.”

With those words, the Talmud does something that no system of governance had every done: bound Hashem by the Law: no longer would the Divine Being be able to rewrite the laws, for the Law was supreme even to Adonai.

This page lays the basis which the British expand with the Magna Carta (that the king is not above the law), and America further expands with the Bill of Rights (that the government is not above the law).

Together, these three very simple texts create the basis for a legal framework that enshrines personal, human rights as greater than the whims of a government – be it a deity, a monarch, or a president.

[virus_dave @virus_dave]

@Carnage4Life Excellent!

I really don't even watch Netflix nowadays, but kept my amount because my kids & stepkids use it at their homes, and the price has been low enough that I don't mind keeping it for them.

So now Netflix is giving me an incentive to quit their service, which I'll take!

[Brian Sniffen @BrianSniffen]

@netflix I need my kids’ queues and viewed state to sync between my house and my coparent’s. Their iPads travel but there’s a smart TV at each house. Happy to pay for two households—but how are you going to make this work?

Snowbirds need something similar.

[Spectre Creations @spect_creations]

Finally something we can all agree on.

#OpenDnD

[Brian Sniffen @BrianSniffen]

@joeandruzzifndn I just tried and it said the code’s invalid even when I copied and pasted.

[Allen Holub. https://linkedIn.com/in/allenholub @allenholub]

Tried to add my Mastodon handle to my Twitter profile this morning. They now characterize that as "malware" and don't allow it. Free speech in action!

[David Frum @davidfrum]

"Will you migrate to Post, Mastodon, or somewhere else?" seems to me the wrong question. For me, the highest value of Twitter is hearing directly from people engaged in freedom struggle against Russia, in Iran, in Chinese-speaking lands. Where do THEY go? How will I follow THEM?

[David Frum @davidfrum]

I enjoy posting wisecracks here. I benefit a little - but only a little - from linking to other work. (The click-through rate is low on Twitter, always has been.) The great benefit is the information flow, the discovery of sources, the opportunity to amplify people on front lines

[Justin Amash @justinamash]

Twitter’s stated mission is “to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers.” Whether under old management or new, it’s bad policy and just wrong to suspend an account without public transparency over why the account was suspended.

[Matthew Green @matthew_d_green]

Like clockwork. https://t.co/hsIAIrGs73

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

after nearly a year of invasion, president zelensky tells a joke about the war.

a pretty good one, actually.

[Clint Gibler @clintgibler]

🔑 Introducing passkeys in Chrome

With the latest version of Chrome, passkeys are enabled on Windows 11, macOS, and Android

On a desktop device you can also choose to use a passkey from your nearby mobile device (Android or iOS)

https://t.co/MfkMf31wLP

[Governor Kate Brown @OregonGovBrown]

The death penalty is immoral. Since taking office in 2015, I have continued Oregon’s moratorium on executions. I am taking this final action for the 17 individuals with death sentences before I leave office to ensure that none of them will be put to death by the state.

[Governor Kate Brown @OregonGovBrown]

Justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people— even if a terrible crime placed them in prison. Today I am commuting all death sentences in Oregon to life without parole, so we no longer have anyone facing execution here.

[Brian Sniffen @BrianSniffen]

@Carnage4Life Don’t worry, Twitter Full Self Driving will ship any day now.

[Brian Sniffen @BrianSniffen]

@Carnage4Life Don’t worry, Twitter Full Self Driving will ship any day now.

[Laura Robinson @LauraRbnsn]

I heard there were three Gospel texts
And Mark was first, then Matthew next
But Matthew shares some tales with only Luke, yeah
A sermon on a mount, or plain
The wedding feast, centurion's slave-
And that's why Streeter said there was a Q, yeah
#althallelujah

[Hannah Davis @ahandvanish]

This basically suggests fibromyalgia is linked to spinal issues - specifically the loss of the spine's curve in your neck.

I would love to see more research into spinal abnormalities in illnesses like #LongCovid and ME/CFS.

[neoltitude @ctrlcreep]

So the whole Santa thing... it's benevolent, voluntary possession. These guys willingly grant St. Nick control over their bodies. Incredibly powerful entity, and one of the few such æther-beasts well-disposed towards humanity

[Alec Muffett @AlecMuffett]

People who talk about #SurveillanceCapitalism are generally amongst the first to be helping the state remove liberties from people in the name of protecting them.

At best, an instance of the "…only ever imagining themselves to be in charge"—problem.

At worst: totalitarianism.