Ricky B
@ambivalentricky.bsky.social
Music, puzzles, writing, politics I guess. Future former lawyer. Beginner chess player. Disdained as an "egghead" by Matt Taibbi. Banned from Great Clips 7/20/24. He / him. https://billingsgate.neocities.org/
Fun, only glancingly related, trivia:
the quote "the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results," occasionally attributed to Einstein, among other people, comes from an Al-Anon book from the early 80s
the quote "the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results," occasionally attributed to Einstein, among other people, comes from an Al-Anon book from the early 80s
I was trying to track down the source of Gramsci's "time of monsters" quote and found that it's a "mistranslation" (ie he just made it up) by Slavoj Zizek. Gramsci's line clearly translates as "morbid symptoms" instead. Mad that you can just rewrite a famous quote and get it widely accepted.
December 1, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Fun, only glancingly related, trivia:
the quote "the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results," occasionally attributed to Einstein, among other people, comes from an Al-Anon book from the early 80s
the quote "the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results," occasionally attributed to Einstein, among other people, comes from an Al-Anon book from the early 80s
Reposted by Ricky B
A lot of writers talk about their greatest fear being the empty page but to me that’s nothing compared to mummies
November 26, 2025 at 1:37 AM
A lot of writers talk about their greatest fear being the empty page but to me that’s nothing compared to mummies
You see the meticulously groomed show dog. I see the Rolex GMT Master II. We are not the same
Some of those dogs at the dog show are just obscene abominations unto the lord.
November 29, 2025 at 2:41 AM
You see the meticulously groomed show dog. I see the Rolex GMT Master II. We are not the same
Amazing piece of good / bad news: scientists found the source of the widespread forever-chemical contamination in this part of the Triangle. It was PFAS precursors from one textile plant in Burlington being converted into PFAS by Burlington's wastewater treatment process...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Researchers uncover the source of widespread 'forever chemical' contamination in North Carolina
An environmental chemistry laboratory at Duke University has solved a longstanding mystery of the origin of high levels of PFAS—so-called "forever chemicals"—contaminating water sources in the Piedmon...
phys.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Amazing piece of good / bad news: scientists found the source of the widespread forever-chemical contamination in this part of the Triangle. It was PFAS precursors from one textile plant in Burlington being converted into PFAS by Burlington's wastewater treatment process...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
"get right inty the microwave and blow yersel up tae fuck"
"That's Numberwang!"
November 28, 2025 at 9:38 PM
"get right inty the microwave and blow yersel up tae fuck"
November 28, 2025 at 9:32 PM
My sub lapsed 2 months ago so I grabbed this immediately. A steal.
Puzzmo Plus is only 20 bucks for a year right now and that’s a steal www.puzzmo.com/today/
Puzzmo — The (new) place for thoughtful puzzles.
Re-imagined mainstays like the daily Crossword Puzzle, modern classics like Really Bad Chess and SpellTower, and even a few brand new puzzles.
www.puzzmo.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
My sub lapsed 2 months ago so I grabbed this immediately. A steal.
It's too bad that there's no AI-free search engine company at this point. I saw some ad suggesting the AI prompt "help me find festive men's fall outfits" or something and it would be so easy for one of them to run an ad showing that you can just type "festive men's fall outfits" into the search bar
November 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It's too bad that there's no AI-free search engine company at this point. I saw some ad suggesting the AI prompt "help me find festive men's fall outfits" or something and it would be so easy for one of them to run an ad showing that you can just type "festive men's fall outfits" into the search bar
Reposted by Ricky B
This day in history. 1990. Charges against Axl Rose for assault with what the victim called "a really good bottle of Chardonnay" were dropped because there's no such thing.
November 28, 2023 at 10:43 AM
This day in history. 1990. Charges against Axl Rose for assault with what the victim called "a really good bottle of Chardonnay" were dropped because there's no such thing.
I checked Masquerade out from the library when I was a little kid and was fascinated with it despite never coming anywhere near solving any of the puzzles (I assume most kids didn't)
I like making my little word puzzles but one day I'd love to make a real-world puzzle this mysterious and intricate
I like making my little word puzzles but one day I'd love to make a real-world puzzle this mysterious and intricate
Fun news for puzzle fans! The golden hare from the 1979 armchair treasure hunt book Masquerade by Kit Williams will be auctioned at Sotheby's, estimated at a value of £15,000 to £20,000 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... (Who wants to crowdfund with me? 👀)
Jewelled golden hare that sparked national treasure hunt set for auction
Artist and author Kit Williams hid a golden hare with clues to its precise location given in his 1979 book
www.independent.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I checked Masquerade out from the library when I was a little kid and was fascinated with it despite never coming anywhere near solving any of the puzzles (I assume most kids didn't)
I like making my little word puzzles but one day I'd love to make a real-world puzzle this mysterious and intricate
I like making my little word puzzles but one day I'd love to make a real-world puzzle this mysterious and intricate
i learned yesterday that French Montana is engaged to the daughter of the sheikh of Dubai. That is a level of bag securing that makes A$AP Rocky look like he married a pediatrician
November 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
i learned yesterday that French Montana is engaged to the daughter of the sheikh of Dubai. That is a level of bag securing that makes A$AP Rocky look like he married a pediatrician
Maybe someone can help me find an artist who was profiled on Bandcamp within the past 18 months or so? Female solo artist who makes somber singer-songwritery music, a little gothy, with more ambient, maybe shoegazey? backing, no (or very little) percussion. Perhaps from outside US.
November 26, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Maybe someone can help me find an artist who was profiled on Bandcamp within the past 18 months or so? Female solo artist who makes somber singer-songwritery music, a little gothy, with more ambient, maybe shoegazey? backing, no (or very little) percussion. Perhaps from outside US.
I wouldn't have framed it this way but at least it gets close to the point that anti-vaxx / health conspiracy theory is a new religion. Not that it seems religious: that it is a religion. It's a faith community that draws spiritual purpose from purity rituals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Opinion | I Went to an Anti-Vaccine Conference. Medicine Is in Trouble.
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:26 AM
I wouldn't have framed it this way but at least it gets close to the point that anti-vaxx / health conspiracy theory is a new religion. Not that it seems religious: that it is a religion. It's a faith community that draws spiritual purpose from purity rituals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
there's a war going on outside no man is safe from, Charlie Brown
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 AM
there's a war going on outside no man is safe from, Charlie Brown
all of us on this site at least once a week
what is the discourse? when i search on here i just get homemade pornography
November 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
all of us on this site at least once a week
November 23, 2025 at 9:32 PM
oh Lido
whoa whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh
one more job ought to get it
one last shot 'fore we quit it
one more for the road
whoa whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh
one more job ought to get it
one last shot 'fore we quit it
one more for the road
Oh, thunder only happens when it's rainin'
Players only love you when they're playin'
Say women, they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know
You'll know
Players only love you when they're playin'
Say women, they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know
You'll know
November 23, 2025 at 2:54 AM
oh Lido
whoa whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh
one more job ought to get it
one last shot 'fore we quit it
one more for the road
whoa whoa oh oh oh oh oh oh
one more job ought to get it
one last shot 'fore we quit it
one more for the road
The portions of the recently declassified JFK papers I looked at were all records of federal investigators doing unpleasant things with rifles and cadavers and ballistic jelly and coming to the conclusions found in the Warren Report. Oswald was an alienated crank and a decent shot. That's it.
JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.
My first political memory - exactly 62 years ago right now, a 4-year-old boy trying to understand his mom's tears - is still the biggest event in my lifetime. We still (IMO) don't *really* know who killed JFK, but we know the public's trust was shattered. It's a straight line to today's mess
November 23, 2025 at 1:56 AM
The portions of the recently declassified JFK papers I looked at were all records of federal investigators doing unpleasant things with rifles and cadavers and ballistic jelly and coming to the conclusions found in the Warren Report. Oswald was an alienated crank and a decent shot. That's it.
I was really into this at the time. The country was obsessed with MTV from about 1982 to 1985. They were like the 80s Archies. Probably influenced Beavis & Butthead. Also exact same premise as Land of the Lost & the D&D cartoon which also kicked ass. Dude on the left is straight up Trevor Horn.
November 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I was really into this at the time. The country was obsessed with MTV from about 1982 to 1985. They were like the 80s Archies. Probably influenced Beavis & Butthead. Also exact same premise as Land of the Lost & the D&D cartoon which also kicked ass. Dude on the left is straight up Trevor Horn.
This might be a good time to mention that former NC House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore, who had a GOP Congressional district tailored for him in 2024, made $171,000 on the stock market in one day recently.
Over 100 members of Congress have a net worth over $10M.
Moore doesn't but maybe he will soon
Over 100 members of Congress have a net worth over $10M.
Moore doesn't but maybe he will soon
AOC on MTG retiring: "She's carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in and after making millions of dollars insider trading stocks for weapons manufacturers and others while in office."
November 22, 2025 at 4:02 PM
This might be a good time to mention that former NC House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore, who had a GOP Congressional district tailored for him in 2024, made $171,000 on the stock market in one day recently.
Over 100 members of Congress have a net worth over $10M.
Moore doesn't but maybe he will soon
Over 100 members of Congress have a net worth over $10M.
Moore doesn't but maybe he will soon
George Washington, while president, personally led a militia into Pennsylvania to quell the Whiskey Rebellion. Two of the rebels were eventually found guilty of treason. Washington pardoned them both.
Southern neighbour totally having a normal one today
November 21, 2025 at 1:36 AM
George Washington, while president, personally led a militia into Pennsylvania to quell the Whiskey Rebellion. Two of the rebels were eventually found guilty of treason. Washington pardoned them both.
Reposted by Ricky B
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
Reposted by Ricky B
I really can't stress how important it is for progressive and leftists to contend for school, library, water, etc etc boards. Hyper local involvement in our communities where we can actually influence lives.
Following the recent election, leadership will be changing in many districts where conservative values previously dominated school board meetings and community actions.
epgn.com/2025/11/18/v...
epgn.com/2025/11/18/v...
Voters shift school boards toward LGBTQ+ inclusion across PA and N.J. - Philadelphia Gay News
School boards in PA and NJ are shifting fast—LGBTQ+ leaders are winning, conservatives are losing, and policy battles are heating up.
epgn.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 AM
I really can't stress how important it is for progressive and leftists to contend for school, library, water, etc etc boards. Hyper local involvement in our communities where we can actually influence lives.
Finally a version of this story that makes sense. LH won't be disbarred for this, but it's a good example of why lawyers have an affirmative duty not to practice law in areas they don't know enough about (a mistake I made once and maybe only once).
IIRC, under the FRCP if a case is dismissed w/o...
IIRC, under the FRCP if a case is dismissed w/o...
The facts are complicated, but here’s a summary of what appears to have happened based on the filings and today’s hearing:
NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court.
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
November 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Finally a version of this story that makes sense. LH won't be disbarred for this, but it's a good example of why lawyers have an affirmative duty not to practice law in areas they don't know enough about (a mistake I made once and maybe only once).
IIRC, under the FRCP if a case is dismissed w/o...
IIRC, under the FRCP if a case is dismissed w/o...