Cole
banner
colearmstrong.bsky.social
Cole
@colearmstrong.bsky.social
Just struggling to make the world a better place one small step at a time.
Just don't get me started on the French Republican calendar, 6-day week, the Peirce Quincuncial map projection, or the base 12 number system :)
June 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
You have time to argue with me about it
June 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Sure, but to create a numerical scale to measure something linear, you need a unit of scale and an anchor point... or two anchor points, with the unit of scale then defined relative to the distance between them. I'm just saying that if I were to create a new system, those are the two points I'd pick
June 23, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Boiling temperature is something we can conceive of, but can't really feel. The difference between 70 C and 110 C is something we're going to measure with a thermometer and not something we can actually distinguish by sensation. Freezing temperature and body temperature are on a very human scale.
June 23, 2025 at 9:50 PM
My point is not that people need help remembering what human body temperature is, it's that when most people in their daily lives discuss temperature, it's usually regarding the weather or things that feel warm/hot to a person. Freezing temp and body temp are perfect goalposts; they're palpable.
June 23, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Cole
It's also quite the message to send to district court judges: don't even bother trying to hold this government accountable to due process - we are not there to back you, no matter how egregious the DOJ has been in your court.
June 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Cole
This decision is bad enough on the merits. But it also gives the government relief in a case in which it defied the district court at least *twice.* That’s quite a message to send to the government with respect to the costs of its litigation behavior in other cases—or the complete lack thereof.
June 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Do you really use a thermometer every time you boil water?

Also, have you raised kids? Because they get sick allllll the time, I've definitely taken kids' temperature much more often than I have used a thermometer in cooking.
June 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Cole
Sotomayor: "Given its conduct in these proceedings, the Government’s posture resembles that of the arsonist who calls 911 to report firefighters for violating a local noise ordinance."

SCOTUS' intervention "expos[es] thousands to the risk of torture or death." www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Cole
In dissent, Sotomayor accuses the Trump administration of openly defying a lower court order, and says SCOTUS now "rewards" it.

"Each time this Court rewards noncompliance with discretionary relief, it further erodes respect for courts and for the rule of law." www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 23, 2025 at 8:38 PM
0 being freezing is the one thing Celsius absolutely gets right. Once again I point to my ideal temperature scale, where 0=freezing and 100=human body temperature. These are the most intuitive points of reference in most people's lives bsky.app/profile/cole...
IMO the best scale would be a compromise where 0=freezing like in Celsius, but 100= human body temperature (*almost* like Fahrenheit, it always bugged me that it was sooo close but just a tiny arbitrary yet significant amount off)
June 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Cole
Again, if the Mad King can just disappear legal residents on personal whim, he can do it for any citizen of the Republic. And if he can do that, without consequence, then I have no idea why you still believe the 2026/28 elections are going to be free, fair, & competitive.
I really, really want to be wrong about this. But it's textbook stuff, on a daily basis, right now, & we were starting, in 2025, from a baseline that isn't fully democratic anyway. If the last weeks are what the next several years have in store, then 2026/28 simply will not competitive elections.
Again, elections happen under competitive authoritarianism. What doesn’t happen is legal accountability for criminals allied with the government, or elections that are fully free & fair. We already don’t have those. If the claim is we’re still going to be a full democracy in 2026/8, I have bad news.
March 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
So Vader is Musk, basically?
April 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Cole
It was enriching trump insiders. Plain and simple. He can manipulate the market at will now. I’m not sure that’s a good thing for confidence in the us stock market.
April 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM