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Tòfol
@cristofol.org
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degrowth communism, free Palestine
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cristofol.org
'In 2019, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, described the events as "genocide", adding, "...that's the way it needs to be described in the history books."'
January 12, 2026 at 6:39 PM
cristofol.org
I think these are black-headed gulls in their winter plumage. They're certainly cuter than their bigger, summer-resident cousins.
January 10, 2026 at 6:09 PM
cristofol.org
'We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror.'

www.marxists.org/archive/marx...
We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror. But the royal terrorists, the terrorists by the grace of God and the law, are in practice brutal, disdainful, and mean, in theory cowardly, secretive, and deceitful, and in both respects disreputable.
January 7, 2026 at 7:00 PM
cristofol.org
Personally I think the problem is with the use of the term 'AI'. Probably better to use more specific terms so that computational researchers can be comfortable on here. Those that use LLMs for 'research' can get blocked, on the other hand.
January 5, 2026 at 10:48 PM
cristofol.org
He's a liar. He's not really going to eat you. 'He's not really going to eat you' is the new 'he's going to eat you'. He never said he was going to eat you. The eating of you is a metaphor for the pleasure he will give you. He only said it to invite investment in the country. The economy isn't edibl
January 4, 2026 at 9:07 PM
cristofol.org
Glad we've got that cleared up.
What's the origin of the phrase 'The law is an ass'? This proverbial expression is of English origin and the ass being referred to here is the English colloquial name for a donkey, not the American ‘ass’, which we will leave behind us at this point. Donkeys have a somewhat unjustified reputation for obstinance and stupidity that has given us the adjective ‘asinine’. It is the stupidly rigid application of the law that this phrase calls into question.
January 3, 2026 at 11:01 PM
cristofol.org
Woke up to yet another illegal war of aggression.
January 3, 2026 at 8:55 AM
cristofol.org
merit (n.)
c. 1200, "spiritual credit" (for good works, etc.); c. 1300, "spiritual reward," from Old French merite "wages, pay, reward; thanks; merit, moral worth, that which assures divine pity" (12c.) and directly from Latin meritum "a merit, service, kindness, benefit, favor; worth, value, importance," neuter of meritus, past participle of merere, mereri "to earn, deserve, acquire, gain," from PIE root *(s)mer- (2) "to get a share of something." Sense of "worthiness, excellence," is from early 14c.; from late 14c. as "state or fact of deserving, condition or conduct that deserves either reward or punishment;" also "a reward, benefit." Etymologically it is merely "that which one deserves," and the Latin word was used of rewards or punishments, but in English it has typically meant "state or fact of deserving well."Merits, in law, is "the right and wrong of the case, essential facts and principles" (as distinguished from questions of procedure, etc.). In civil service promotion, the merit system is attested by 1880 (opposed to the spoils system); the phrase was used earlier in other contexts. Merit-monger (1550s, Latimer) was a common 16c.-17c. term of theological contempt for one who believes that human merit entitles man to divine rewards.
January 2, 2026 at 9:22 PM
cristofol.org
Awesome.
January 1, 2026 at 9:41 PM
cristofol.org
Wishing you all a sunny start to the year.
January 1, 2026 at 1:02 PM
cristofol.org
We're here, and so are they, now just waiting for you. It's incredible, you'll love it.
December 31, 2025 at 11:07 PM
cristofol.org
No, no, we never get that cold here. As long as there's sun, as there mostly is, we only need to heat the rooms we occupy in the early morning and evening.
December 31, 2025 at 2:17 PM
cristofol.org
sharp (adj.)
Old English scearp "having a cutting edge; pointed; intellectually acute, active, shrewd; keen (of senses); severe; biting, bitter (of tastes)," from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, literally "cutting" (source also of Old Saxon scarp, Old Norse skarpr, Old Frisian skerp, Dutch scherp, German scharf "sharp"), from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut" (source also of Lettish skarbs "sharp," Middle Irish cerb "cutting") The figurative meaning "acute or penetrating in intellect or perception" was in Old English; hence "keenly alive to one's own interests, quick to take advantage" (1690s). Of words or talk, "cutting, sarcastic," from early 13c. Meaning "distinct in contour" is from 1670s. The musical meaning "half step above (a given tone)" is from 1570s. Meaning "stylish" is from 1944, hepster slang, from earlier general slang sense of "excellent" (1940). Phrase sharp as a tack first recorded 1912 (sharp as a needle has been around since Old English). Sharp-shinned attested from 1704 of persons, 1813 of hawks.
December 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
cristofol.org
smart (adj.)
Middle English smert, from late Old English smeart, in reference to hits, blows, etc., "stinging; causing a sharp pain," related to smeortan "be painful" (see smart (v.)). The adjective is not represented in the cognate languages.Of speech or words, "harsh, injurious, unpleasant," c. 1300; thus "pert, impudent; on the impertinent side of witty" (by 1630s). In reference to persons, "quick, active, intelligent, clever," 1620s, perhaps from the notion of "cutting" wit, words, etc., or else "keen in bargaining." From 1718 in cant as "fashionably elegant;" by 1798 as "trim in attire," "ascending from the kitchen to the drawing-room c. 1880" [Weekley]. For sense evolution, compare sharp (adj.); at one time or another smart also had the extended senses in sharp.Attested from late 12c. as a surname, earlier as a component in them, including Christiana Smartknave (1279). In reference to devices, the sense of "behaving as though guided by intelligence" is attested by 1972 (smart bomb, also the computing smart terminal). The figurative smart cookie "clever, perceptive person" is from 1948.
December 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM
cristofol.org
Out and about with a friend in the hilly woods that fall into the sea.

(the 'Puig de les Cols' ('Cabbage Mount') is at 416m (1365ft))
December 29, 2025 at 5:01 PM
cristofol.org
Another pair of zero-drop shoes reaches end-of-life.
December 28, 2025 at 9:14 AM
cristofol.org
'In outline, what this means is that Hegel presents the key tenets of his philosophy—for our purposes: Concept and Idea—​as manifesting a double form: life manifests the immediacy of Concept and Idea, an immediacy that contains the potential for the actualization of self-​conscious cognition.' ~ Ng
In developing Hegel’s speculative identity thesis, my claim will be that Hegel presents the ground of knowledge as having a double constitution.11 In outline, what this means is that Hegel presents the key tenets of his philosophy—for our purposes: Concept and Idea—​as manifesting a double form: life manifests the immediacy of Concept and Idea, an immediacy that contains the potential for the actualization of self-​conscious cognition.12 Why does Hegel claim that life is the immediate Concept (the unity of universality, particularity, and individuality) and the immediate Idea (the unity of Concept and objectivity), and what significance does this have for Hegel’s understanding of the process and activity of knowing? Although it will take the bulk of this study to answer this question, I will argue that here, too, the Critique of Judgment provides the most important background for understanding the significance of Hegel’s claim concerning the immediacy of life. Building on the purposiveness theme, Hegel will argue that the power of judgment is an actualization of the unity and activity of life-​form, a power that is at once enabled and constrained by the unity and activity of life. The key to Hegel’s speculative identity thesis is that life is not a determination that is ultimately overcome or fully sublated by self-​conscious cognition, but that the identity and opposition between life and self-​consciousness constitute the process and activity of knowing, a dialectical process that he comes to call absolute method.13
December 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
cristofol.org
Vuit hores per arribar de la font fins a tu no està gens malament.
December 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
cristofol.org
I wonder how a Chinese philosopher would compare 劳动 (physical toil, effort-action) with 无为 (effortless action, non-doing). From a Marxist perspective, it is easy to see how the latter could justify the persistence of the labouring classes who performed the former.
December 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
cristofol.org
Shoulder-carrying culture, the carrying pole, human muscle power. In Chinese:

劳动
December 27, 2025 at 2:34 PM
cristofol.org
A set of fascinating photos from China taken in 1979 with the title 'Muscle Power'.

dongibbschinaphotos.com/portfolio/5-...
December 27, 2025 at 1:23 PM
cristofol.org
One of these quote posts implicitly expresses an idea that is insane; which one is it?

(Hint: it isn't the one on the left)
December 26, 2025 at 9:11 PM
cristofol.org
What sort of temporal extension did you have in mind?
December 26, 2025 at 11:26 AM
cristofol.org
'By 2028, the researchers estimate, the power going to AI-specific purposes will rise to between 165 and 326 terawatt-hours per year. That’s more than all electricity currently used by US data centers for all purposes; it’s enough to power 22% of US households each year.'
Data centers in the US used somewhere around 200 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, roughly what it takes to power Thailand for a year. By 2028, the researchers estimate, the power going to AI-specific purposes will rise to between 165 and 326 terawatt-hours per year. That’s more than all electricity currently used by US data centers for all purposes; it’s enough to power 22% of US households each year. That could generate the same emissions as driving over 300 billion miles—over 1,600 round trips to the sun from Earth. The researchers were clear that adoption of AI and the accelerated server technologies that power it has been the primary force causing electricity demand from data centers to skyrocket after remaining stagnant for over a decade. Between 2024 and 2028, the share of US electricity going to data centers may triple, from its current 4.4% to 12%.
December 25, 2025 at 6:36 PM
cristofol.org
December 25, 2025 at 11:30 AM