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CowperKettle
CowperKettle
10:30 AM
A cameraman working in Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation has been detained under "suspicion of incitement of extremism" after a tweet he made in which he said that he hated Vladimir Putin. tvrain.ru/news/…
He wrote that he "hates Putin and other scum and" called to "fucking kick this pseudo-authority".
I think he will get a jail term. A set of new laws came in force this year, passed just before New Year by Putin's occupation regime, making each such statement much more punishable.
His tweet was very emotional because it was dedicated to a journalist who was subjected to intimidation by Putin's occupation regime, and committed suicide this year.
A woman journalist, she burned herself to death in the center of her city, leaving a message "the government killed me" after her flat was raided by Putin's armed goons in the morning.
I will send him money when he is in jail, via the political prisoner support system.
This system helps the families of innocent people jailed by Putin's occupation regime.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle Does this sort of thing get any press?
Locally, I mean.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
10:45 AM
@FaheemMitha Yes, via the independent media like Novaya Gazeta (New Newspaper) and others.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle How fringe is that? What's the approximate readership?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
It's amazing that the regime has not clamped down on independed media completely. There are some independent media.
@FaheemMitha Anybody who is interested can easily read it.
I don't know how many are interested. Russians are very, very apathetic and the majority only cares about their own lives.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle So unknown?
@CowperKettle That's common everywhere.
You can't really blame people. Life is hard enough if you just have to worry about yourself.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
South Koreans took to the streets in millions after a news about a fraud that in Russia would barely bring a single person to the street in protest.
And overthrew their president.
So there must be differences between peoples.
The South Korean president really was implicated in such an innnocent fraud scheme that Russians would only laugh at the idea of becoming angry with that.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
@CowperKettle that's self-evident and a slippery slope at the same time
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
10:50 AM
@CowperKettle Yes, Indians do protest too.
 
M.A.R.
M.A.R.
Our people frustrate me too, but I guess any person looking for change is always going to confront these sorts of feelings.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
I'm sure there are cultural differences.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
If I recall right, it was in the amount of tens of thousand of dollars. I mean, in Sourh Korea. In Russia, local authority figures routinely steal millions upon millions of dollars, and nobody cares.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
For example, there's a lot of activism in South America. But they still have terrible govts. Of course, some of that is thanks to their monstrous northern neighbor.
@CowperKettle Here they steal lots of money too. I'm sure people care, but the whole system is so corrupt it's hard to do anything.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
A photo made in the flat of FSB colonel Mr. Cherkalin
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
10:53 AM
And in India the contempt for common people is so great the "eilte" think they can get away with anything.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
There was 12 000 000 000 rubles.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle Dollars?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@FaheemMitha 163 560 000 USD
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
The current farmer's protest is a case in point. Recent developments have been remarkable, even by Indian standards.
@CowperKettle Wow. 163 million USD?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Yes ))
FSB gets millions of dollars by intimidating business owners
Because FSB can make your business stop.
 
Gigili
Gigili
11:08 AM
@Cerberus Hahah, damn stories. I should've known better.
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle Sounds rather like India.
What does FSB stand for?
 
Gigili
Gigili
At least now you know I'm an influenzerzg.
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
Friendly Socialist Brothers
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
11:41 AM
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
12:13 PM
@MattE.Эллен Unlikely.
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
:D I guess not
@FaheemMitha Federal Secret Service, but in Russian
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@MattE.Эллен So the State Police?
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
In the UK, I think the equivalent is MI5
or possibly MI5 + MI6 + GCHQ
I guess that's state police and clandestine operations
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
12:36 PM
So, like the KGB?
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
I think so, yes
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
12:59 PM
A man in Russia has been fined 40 thousand rubles (550 USD) for publishing a meme in which Vladimir Putin is a "Robin Poot who robs the poor and gives to the rich". LOL
A man from Vladivostok, Russia
 
Gigili
Gigili
1:10 PM
Facebook Sucks Badly
Fluent Serbian Bot
Full Stack Beveloper
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
1:46 PM
 
Faheem Mitha
Faheem Mitha
@CowperKettle Poot?
 
Mitch
Mitch
2:21 PM
@Cerberus what 'twin deficits'?
@Cerberus Oh..I didn't consider that. But lots of other places surely have bad reporting too. and young people (South-East Asia, Middle East, South America). And super dense city living.
@FaheemMitha Short for Putin?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@FaheemMitha Robin Hood -> Robin Poot, a wordplay
 
Mitch
Mitch
@Mitch got it (@CowperKettle's wiki link). But I never learned about it in high school. There is no 'economics' as a core subject in American High Schools.
@CowperKettle The vowels don't match at all in native English pronunciation so it'd be easy to miss.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
I wonder if there are studies in PubMed about how many kg of food an average person consumes per day
Chrome's talking engine pronounced Robin Hood and Robin Poot in quite a similar manner
If I eat too much, I feel weak and almost unable to do anything. Feel heavy in the stomach.
Started this fall. It got better, but now it has gotten worse again.
 
Mitch
Mitch
2:39 PM
@CowperKettle Hood = /hʊd/ same vowel as 'book'. poot = /puːt/ same vowel as 'goose' in English.
In Russian they sound the same but in English they wouldn't be confused for each other.
also English doesn't devoice final voiced stops (though Russian does) so d and t at the end don't sound the same in English
In other words in English there's a lot going against these two rhyming, whereas in Russian they totally rhyme.
Do you now the IPA for the Russian 'y'? is it /uː/ or /ʊ/ or something else?
 
SmokeDetector
SmokeDetector
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected, potentially bad keyword in answer, toxic answer detected (159): Meaning of the expression “Eat sh**” by bum ditch on english.SE
 
Mihir
Mihir
3:19 PM
Hi, I was looking for a word similar to "session". In my understanding "session" relates to a period which deals with time. But I want an alternative such that it is something that is decided manually and not by time. Like we can say, session for X runs for 10 mins. But I don't know the time X goes for. So what should be the correct word to address X?
 
Robusto
Robusto
3:31 PM
@Mihir A "session" can be of any length, and although the time can be specified, often that is not the case. A "jam session" for musicians may last an hour or all night.
 
Mihir
Mihir
@Robusto didn't know that. Thanks :)
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Mihir I have personally produced recording sessions where we have budgeted two hours but gone over for various reasons, and they ended when they ended.
 
Færd
Færd
3:46 PM
How long did it take you to find the lion? (She's staring right at you)
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Færd Is that a lion or a chameleon? I still don't see it.
Maybe she's got one of those Predator suits on?
Oh, I see her now. Subtle.
Are you sure it's a lion and not a leopard? The lion(ess) has a longer, broader snout, I think.
 
tchrist
tchrist
Mountain lion. It barely took me a full second, if that.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Well aren't you fancy? =P
 
tchrist
tchrist
No, I just am used to looking for lions. :)
There's something about cat faces that jumps out at us as though they were human.
You don't get that with rabbits or deer or dogs.
And the human mind is exceedingly well attuned to human faces.
 
Robusto
Robusto
I focused on the sandy color in the grass above, since that is where I expected an African lion to be.. Didn't start looking elsewhere until later.
@tchrist Yeah, we see faces where there aren't any.
In clouds, in tree leaves, wherever.
Not the same face.
 
tchrist
tchrist
4:01 PM
I have a massive wall of ivy in which my lurking spotted tabby's eyes can be hard to see in just the same way.
 
Robusto
Robusto
The black-and-white cats often have camo patterns that disguise their eyes.
Jan 11 at 21:51, by Robusto
user image
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
😺
 
Robusto
Robusto
We call the one on the right "The Count" because he has that black mask over his eyes.
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
You call the one on the left "batman", because it jumps around the house in the night
 
Robusto
Robusto
@MattE.Эллен No, that one is Shadow (whom we often call Badow, because he complains so much).
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
4:04 PM
Pavel Zelensky has been arrested until the end of February, until his court hearing for "extremism" for making two tweets;
 
Matt E. Эллен
Matt E. Эллен
@Robusto lol
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@Robusto Nice cats!
I had a black car named Sarah
 
Robusto
Robusto
@CowperKettle Thanks!
They are big cats. Not fat, just big.
 
tchrist
tchrist
face
 
Robusto
Robusto
The point is, if you ever do see that kind of cat in the wild it is probably not hunting you.
Otherwise your first indication that you are being hunted is fangs in your neck.
We put a bib on Bosco when he's out in the back yard, because he has a record of murdering birds.
The bib gets in the way of his front claws, giving the birds time to escape.
Because cats don't do catch-and-release.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
4:13 PM
Word of the day: cat bib (do not confuse with cat flap)
 
Robusto
Robusto
> A cat bib is a neoprene triangular piece of material in a bright color that attaches to an elastic collar with some hoops and Velcro. This item is basically used for outdoor cats who hunt for prey. There are several studies that warn about the impact that feral cats have on local birds, decreasing its population so, in this sense, this invention is an alternative to a bell to protect native species.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
4:33 PM
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
5:00 PM
> "Folding takes place in your body more than 10 quadrillion times a second..every time a single gene is expressed in a cell"
 
Færd
Færd
@Robusto Try this one now:
Me: ~10 seconds.
Maybe less.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
evolution of covid clades
some of them have already gone extinct
 
Færd
Færd
@tchrist Incredible!
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Færd Took me about a minute. Clearly I'm not good at this.
 
Færd
Færd
@Robusto Well, I don't think there's any material difference between a minute and ten seconds in the wild, if that's any consolation.
 
Robusto
Robusto
5:11 PM
If you're being hunted, sure.
 
Færd
Færd
If you can't spot it at the first glimpse, then just don't bother.
Would that no big cats befall us.
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Færd Interestingly, this statement sounds a bit odd to my ear. Then I realized why. The "would that" construction is usually used to express desire for something not to have happened, like "Would that no big cats had befallen us."
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
The General Procesutor's Office of Russia has issued a warning against people coming to meet Alexey Navalny in the airport when he returns on January 17. The warning says that would constitute an illegal rally.
He will be arrested as soon as he comes off the plane.
 
Robusto
Robusto
See? Putin needs no pretexts.
 
Færd
Færd
@Robusto Interesting indeed. Maybe it's because befall is used in the simple present?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
5:24 PM
When in a pinch, yes, he will do anything.
 
Færd
Færd
How about this one: "Would that no big cats befell us"?
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Færd Yes.
@Færd That works. My ear likes "had befallen" better. I'm not sure why.
 
Færd
Færd
I wonder if it can be used to express future wishes at all.
@Robusto Good to know.
 
Robusto
Robusto
This is the first time in my life that I've ever contemplated that. @tchrist, what do you think?
Maybe it's because this expresses a counterfactual.
"Would that I earned just a bit more money so that I could start saving for a deposit on a house." This example from TFD sounds fine to me, but it still is in the present.
 
Færd
Færd
@Robusto Hmm.
So the full form would be "I would that...", apparently.
 
Robusto
Robusto
5:30 PM
@Færd Yes, but the pronoun would usually be dropped.
 
Færd
Færd
Right. I guess would here is used in the volitive sense.
> If I could, I would that such and such (had) happened.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Yes.
Note also that it is somewhat stilted, archaic, or simply highfalutin.
 
Færd
Færd
Haha right. I wanted to give the wish a comic tinge.
 
Robusto
Robusto
Yes. And that works with people of a certain linguistic adroitness, in the company of others of a certain ability to appreciate same.
> A: "Do you want to come camping with us this weekend?" B: "Would that I could, but I'm afraid I have to go into the office on Saturday to finish up some work."
There "would that I could" is used to express another counterfactual.
 
Færd
Færd
Haha that sounds stuffy!
And yes.
 
 
1 hour later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
6:41 PM
Current weather in Yakutsk, Russia: -49°C
Yakutsk
Yakutsk (Russian: Якутск, IPA: [jɪˈkutsk]; Yakut: Дьокуускай, Cokuuskay, pronounced [ɟokuːskaj]) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 450 kilometers (280 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. Yakutsk, with an average temperature of −8.8 °C (16.2 °F), is the second coldest large city in the world after Norilsk, although Yakutsk experiences colder temperatures in the winter. Yakutsk is also the largest city located in continuous permafrost. Yakutsk is located in the Central Yakutian Lowland and is a major port on the Lena River. It is served by the Yakutsk Airport as well as...
I've never experienced anything colder than -42°C
 
tchrist
tchrist
7:19 PM
@Robusto Yeah, has to be Would that no deaths had befallen us or some such. It's one of those "optative" type exhortations wishing for a particular thing in the past to have been otherwise. You use that same thing with wish, so like I wish nothing ill had befallen us, but alas, it did.
"If only" would work the same way.
> If only she had called first!
> Would that she had called first!
I wish she had called first!
> ¡Ojalá que hubiera llamado antes!
> Oxalá que eu houvesse sido dioso. :)
 
Færd
Færd
@tchrist I would that it could be used for present or future wishes too.
 
tchrist
tchrist
Would that it were so used.
That's a future.
Would that it had been so used.
 
Færd
Færd
Nice!
 
tchrist
tchrist
That's a past.
Well, a future or a present. Can't tell.
 
Færd
Færd
So it's not exclusively about the past.
 
tchrist
tchrist
7:33 PM
It's not so now, though, so I guess it must always be a future in some sense.
It's only a past when it's in the perfect.
 
Færd
Færd
Right.
 
tchrist
tchrist
Would that she had called = she did not call but I wish she had.
Would that she called first = I hope that she will call first
It's a bit ambiguous.
Because you can also say I hope that she called first.
 
Færd
Færd
I used it first with the present simple to talk about the future. That was my mistake.
@tchrist Ah meaning in the future?
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Færd No, that's the past.
I wish that she would call first.
That's the future.
 
Færd
Færd
Right.
 
tchrist
tchrist
7:35 PM
Well, or maybe some sort of frequentive past, maybe. But not here, I think.
I hope that she will call first, I hope that she would call first.
Those aren't quite the same.
But wish is more hypothetical so always needs a past.
If it's a past perfect, that's something else.
 
Færd
Færd
The way I remember it is that normally after would you need the pluperfect to talk about the past.
 
tchrist
tchrist
I hope she had called before her mother did.
 
Færd
Færd
The past simple only implies that the situation is hypothetical.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Færd Usually, yes.
I would guess she will have called first. I would hope she would have called first.
The first means: I guess she called first.
Or: Surely she called first.
Then again, that's the same without the guess: She will have called first.
Means: Surely she did call first.
 
Færd
Færd
And the second?
I hope she will be the first one to call?
 
tchrist
tchrist
7:41 PM
I really hope she was willing to call first, and did.
Is the second.
 
Færd
Færd
Right. It's volitive.
 
tchrist
tchrist
yeah
You always have to consider whether would is that, and often will.
"Would that..." is.
It's the will/would that means wish/willing.
 
Færd
Færd
What tripped me was that calling first is not something you normally would do.
 
tchrist
tchrist
Yeah, there's a possibility for ambiguity easily enough.
I believe she would call first.
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
 
tchrist
tchrist
7:44 PM
@CowperKettle Russian isn't from denarius as well, is it?
 
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@tchrist No, Russian is from Turkic tenge
The unit of money in Kazakhstan is still tenge
It's curious that Ukraine's groshi is from Latin grossus
I never knew that.
"Groshi" is also sometimes used in Russian as a kind of vernacular.
Up until the early 19th century there was no strict line between Russian and Ukrainian
 
Mitch
Mitch
8:29 PM
@CowperKettle those maps are great. as I metnioned to @Cerberus , it'd be nice to see the same treatment for the middle east or india or far east or southeast asia
may need to be interactive because for many of these 'words for X', there are many words in each language, just the cognates for one may be less popular in another country but still used.
 
tchrist
tchrist
8:45 PM
 
Mitch
Mitch
@tchrist OMG I love that one too. But also I want it for -all- the languages.
 
Færd
Færd
> Bros before hoes.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Mitch You can choose your own selection of tongues.
 
Færd
Færd
Similar words pluralized differently. (never mind the sexism)
 
Mitch
Mitch
@tchrist non-Indo-European?
@Færd Cosmos before zeroes
 
Færd
Færd
8:49 PM
Nose before rose.
 
tchrist
tchrist
 
Mitch
Mitch
> Who sews crow’s clothes?
Sue sews crow’s clothes.
Slow Joe Crow sews whose clothes?
Sue’s clothes.

Sue sews socks of fox in socks now.
Slow Joe Crow sews Knox in box now.

Sue sews rose on Slow Joe Crow’s clothes.
Fox sews hose on Slow Joe Crow’s nose.

Hose goes. Rose grows.
Nose hose goes some. Crow’s rose grows some.
 
Færd
Færd
That was fast.
 
tchrist
tchrist
Fuchsensachsen.
 
Mitch
Mitch
@tchrist OK... fine, now do all languages -ever-
And when you're done with that, I want ... uh... all languages in ...uh ... our local arm of the galaxy.
And then a pony
with rainbow m&m's
 
tchrist
tchrist
8:55 PM
@Mitch 𒀗𐦉
 
Mitch
Mitch
@tchrist I can read that, you know.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Mitch fuctrdþʆʯꞃԶ㎘ꞅ
 
Robusto
Robusto
9:40 PM
@Mitch Seychelles Seychelles by the Seychore.
 
Robusto
Robusto
10:00 PM
> Many noted that Trump was the first President elected that had no prior government experience. I contend that, with what we’ve seen over the past 4 years, he’ll leave office the same way. He has no clue what he’s doing, what his job as President is/was, or anything except making himself feel important. Basically he STILL has no government experience. Rage tweeting from the toilet at 3:30AM doesn’t count.
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
10:11 PM
have you eaten this kind of bread? it is like a farce. It is so hard - too hard to bite - so as you try to bite it, it become scrubs falling around. Then as you try to eat it for a long time, you ingest very few materials of it.
 
Mitch
Mitch
@tchrist I don't think that's physically possible.
@Bohemianrelativist Does this kind of bread have a name? Do you have a link to a picture?
 
Gigili
Gigili
So I gather you wear your watch on the right wrist @Mitch
And you always forget the close parenthesis
That says a lot.
 
user 726941
user 726941
he says a lot with few words
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
@Mitch I don't know its name because I don'r know the language of this country. But this kind of bread is very common; I have bought it many times.
 
Gigili
Gigili
@user726941 That too
or three
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
10:20 PM
I think this is typical of European breads.
I don't understand why this kind of bread is sold.
 
Gigili
Gigili
@Bohemianrelativist Your description sounds more like something inedible than a bread
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
whose teeth are so hard to bite this kind bread efficiently?
you cannot bite off a substantial chunk of the bread because it is too hard, so as you bite it, all you get is scrubs, which fall around easily.
 
Gigili
Gigili
sounds like crouton
used as an accompaniment to soups and stews
 
Robusto
Robusto
 
Johan Larsson
Johan Larsson
10:36 PM
:)
 
Gigili
Gigili
10:49 PM
@Robusto "Rage tweeting from the toilet at 3:30AM", sounds very Trump like
 
Robusto
Robusto
@Gigili It's his main move. He's a one-trick pony.
 
Gigili
Gigili
Indeed.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Bohemianrelativist This sounds to me like the old mini-"baguettes" from day before day before yesterday that get too hard to eat. I remember those. Don't eat them.
You might break a tooth.
 
Gigili
Gigili
or make bread pudding
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
11:11 PM
@tchrist you mean they become so hard because they are put for too long?
but I feel these breads are so hard as the day I bought them. I have bought this kind of bread many times, and once ate some of them the time I just bought them and felt they are as hard as this way.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Bohemianrelativist No, not because they were put in the oven too long. They just tend to dry out very quickly, so after a day or two they are only good for feeding the pigeons and squirrels.
Eastern Europe does tend to have heavier breads than Western Europe, though, and it can vary a lot in other parts of the world, too.
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
@tchrist I found pigeons don't eat hard food easily. Once I put some baked biscuits outside my window, and saw pigeons eating them. They cannot break them after attempting to bite many times. These pigeons seem not to be able to eat the food which is even not hard for me. I think pigeons have no teeth and use beak to bite and their beaks are less powerful than our teeth.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@Mitch Trade and budget.
 
tchrist
tchrist
@Bohemianrelativist That's right. You have to take a hammer or rock to them first for pigeons; these are not woodpeckers. Squirrels, though, are the type of mammal we call "rodents", which is an old Latin term meaning they're gnawing creatures. They chew through things like hard nuts.
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
@Gigili so these breads are to put in a stew to soak instead of being eating directly? I have seen some stews on sale are accompanied with scrubs like what I get as I bite these breads.
 
tchrist
tchrist
11:25 PM
That's an interesting idea. Don't have those here, but wouldn't surprise me if they existed elsewhere.
 
Cerberus
Cerberus
@CowperKettle I praesume grossus to be from a Germanic root like grot?
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
I mean something like crumbs, not scrubs. sorry that I don't remember how to spell the word clearly.
 
Gigili
Gigili
@Bohemianrelativist Or even let them soak in yogurt, just a little but not too much
That's what I usually do
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
I found too hard breads are everywhere. I cannot tell from the outlook if a bread is hard or not. Biting these hard breads is so force-consuming. It takes long to finish such a hard bread.
 
Gigili
Gigili
11:40 PM
Enough is enough, I just told you what to do about it
We only talk about Trump here. No bread talking allowed.
 
Bohemian relativist
Bohemian relativist
they are hard in two different ways - one becomes crumbs as I bite and another is dry without scrumbs.
@Gigili if you don't eat, you have no energy to talk about Trump.
I don't know Trump much. I am not in America.
it's not easy to get usual well-cooked food here. Here most food is bread-like.
people in Europe don't like to cook. Yesterday as I tried to buy a fish-contained bread, but even the fish is not cooked.
In Asia, people cook everything, even some fruits, like tomatoes, pineapples, but Europeans even don't cook vegetables and fish.
 
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