Almost Diamonds https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/ Politics. Sex. Science. Art. You know, the good stuff. Tue, 29 Jul 2025 22:10:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 104279750 Remember Johnny Monsarrat? https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2025/07/29/remember-johnny-monsarrat/ Tue, 29 Jul 2025 22:10:08 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9769 No shame if you don’t. I’d almost forgotten him. Monsarrat was part of Edwina Rogers’ attempts to stay relevant in the secular movement after being fired from the Secular Coalition for America (SCA). Specifically, he was the part that got rude and abrasive with local group leaders who didn’t want to sign up for Rogers’ […]

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]]> 9769 CFI vs. Scientists https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2025/01/23/cfi-vs-scientists/ Thu, 23 Jan 2025 19:12:39 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9760  Mother Jones has a great interview today with Kathryn Clancy, “a biological anthropologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, whose research examines the biology and culture around menstruation, pregnancy, and sexual harassment—topics all founded on a scientific understanding of sex, and the differences between us.”Kate and I have been social media mutuals for a very […]

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]]> 9760 Is CFI Shilling for Christian Nationalism? https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2025/01/18/is-cfi-shilling-for-christian-nationalism/ Sat, 18 Jan 2025 23:01:30 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9755 Whew! It’s quite a question, but CFI asked us yesterday to consider it, so I will. Before I do, the brief backstory so you can look into all this for yourself.As you probably know, the right wing of U.S. politics has increasingly attacked trans people, and particularly young trans people. Bathroom bans, bans on medical […]

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]]> 9755 Preparing for Upheaval https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2024/11/10/preparing-for-upheaval/ Sun, 10 Nov 2024 20:14:36 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9747 For most of us, our main job however long this new government lasts is to survive and to bring people with us. Toward that end, it’s time to take inventory, now, before the disruptions start. It’s time to think about things you have that other people may need and figure out how to get them […]

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]]> 9747 Homecoming https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2024/11/10/homecoming-2/ Sun, 10 Nov 2024 16:35:30 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9745 dramatically whips the dust sheets off everything in the placechokes on the dust thrown into the airThere’s a trick to this, isn’t there?Gimme a sec.

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]]> 9745 Making Mastodon Home https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/12/10/making-mastodon-home/ https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/12/10/making-mastodon-home/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2022 20:47:19 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9719 I posted a thread on Twitter in early November about what I did to make myself comfortable there. I hadn’t started and really moved into a social media account since sometime around 2010, so there was some learning involved. I’ve since locked my Twitter account and set the content to delete over time, but a […]

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]]> https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/12/10/making-mastodon-home/feed/ 1 9719 When a Pundit Is a Pundit (and a Scourge) https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/11/30/when-a-pundit-is-a-pundit-and-a-scourge/ Wed, 30 Nov 2022 22:25:52 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9717 This was originally written on my Mastodon account. Current circumstances are very good for reminding me of the ephemeral nature of social media, so I’m copying it here. I’m muting a bunch of pundits around here again, both because of the Twitter migration and because I had to start over with a new profile. That […]

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]]> 9717 Toward a Taxonomy of Bad Moderation https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/11/25/toward-a-taxonomy-of-bad-moderation/ https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/11/25/toward-a-taxonomy-of-bad-moderation/#comments Sat, 26 Nov 2022 02:29:57 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9714 Like many people, I dusted off my Mastodon account when Musk signed the agreement to buy Twitter. When the deal got close to completion, I asked Jason to make me an admin on our tiny the-orbit.net server and set about preparing for more traffic.I started by reviewing the #fediblock hashtag—where the Fediverse communicates about bad […]

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]]> https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2022/11/25/toward-a-taxonomy-of-bad-moderation/feed/ 3 9714 Understanding Stock Markets https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2021/01/29/understanding-stock-markets/ https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2021/01/29/understanding-stock-markets/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2021 02:59:33 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9703 This post is not going to help you get rich off the stock market. If that’s what you’re looking for, the best advice I have for you is to understand your desire makes you a mark and study up on scams of various sorts. That’s fun to do anyway, and I don’t understand why cons […]

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]]> https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2021/01/29/understanding-stock-markets/feed/ 1 9703 When 2 + 2 = 5 and Other Ways to Be Wrong with Heuristics https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2020/12/26/when-2-2-5-and-other-ways-to-be-wrong-with-heuristics/ https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2020/12/26/when-2-2-5-and-other-ways-to-be-wrong-with-heuristics/#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2020 22:15:56 +0000 https://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/?p=9693 I recently finished my first set of classes toward a BS in data analytics. It’s not very useful advice now, I hope, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend attempting this in the academic quarter containing the most critical election of your lifetime. That notwithstanding, this means I’ve spent the past several weeks immersed in discussions of […]

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