From the Desk of Sigma

A collection of rants, ramblings, op-eds, and musings on whatever catches my fancy. No rules, no censorship (may be NSFW at times), and no real end goal. Open, honest, opinionated, and completely irreverent, but not without a sense of humor or fun.

[fromthedeskofsigma]

An Open Letter to Congress

To Whom It May Concern,

I'm one of those "able-bodied men" "sitting in their basement playing video games" that Speaker Mike Johnson talked about. The truth is, I have Autism Spectrum Disorder and associated clinical depression and CAN'T work, even though my body's more than fit for even the most grueling manual labor. I burn through what energy I have faster than most people, and I don't get it back as quickly. This basically means that I'm not able to even show up for work on a consistent basis, and I've been fired from almost every place I've worked at for poor attendance; in short, I AM DISABLED AND CAN'T WORK. It just doesn't look like that from the outside.

And I'm probably first in line for the chopping block when the Medicaid cuts you keep voting in favor of kick in.

And I know I'm far from an isolated case. There are millions of people on the autism spectrum in the United States, most of whom are physically healthy, but a plurality of whom don't have the executive functionality to actually maintain a career. Most of us are on Medicaid because we literally can't get healthcare otherwise. Defunding it to the degree your Dear Leader's Big Bumbling Boondoggle suggests will KILL PEOPLE. That blood will be on your hands.

I'm not under any delusions that most of you care, though. I've seen the way the Republican Party's top brass talk about people like me. Like we're a burden. Like we're a drain on society. Like we're better off being registered, rounded up, and put in camps. I know, broadly speaking, that you don't care about us. That's why I'm not writing this letter as a request, a demand, or a plea.

This is a warning.

Your actions will hurt a lot of people, many irreparably so. Millions, in fact--whether they're on Medicaid, on food stamps, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and so, so many others. My biggest fear right now is that, at some point, all that pain is going to break something in the American people. We're already seeing record-breaking protests and demonstrations--mostly peaceful, thankfully. If you keep pushing vulnerable people, there's no guarantee these demonstrations will stay peaceful. Open revolt looks more and more likely by the day, and legislation like this is only bringing us closer. I don't want that. I don't think any sane person does. But when you put people in a situation where there's no reasonable way out, they're going to start to do unreasonable things.

You're playing with fire, and you're risking the entire nation burning. All you have to do to stop it is vote no.

[fromthedeskofsigma]

The Switch 2 looks great, the games look AWESOME, but apparently the MSRP for at least one of the release titles is $80??? Yeah. No. Fuck that. If game prices go up again, I'm switching to exclusively buying used and telling anyone who tries to defend this obvious price-gouging that they should be glad I'm not outright pirating. Yet.

[fromthedeskofsigma]

The US Department of Education set up a DEI snitch line. Let's make them regret that decision.

I don't know how else to put it, but this shit is dangerous. They're actively putting more and more systems in place for people to report "undesirables" to the government. That's textbook fucking fascism. It's horrible. So let's be horrible right back. https://enddei.ed.gov/ Go here. I don't care what kind of nonsense you send them, but write whatever you "report" in such a way as to waste as much of their time as possible. I led them in with a false promise of student testimony about a DEI program goin' on in cafeterias in Huntington Beach that was actually a long-winded, alarmist, and somewhat-thinly-disguised reference to "Pizza Day!" by the Aquabats. Do whatever, but if you wanna maximize the time wasted, make it sound convincing for as long as you can before you hit 'em with whatever patent absurdity you've come up with as a punch line. No real names, no more specifics than you need to fill out the form to the bare minimum, and I highly recommend you use a burner email account to submit it.

[sigmareblog]

TRUMP LOST. Vote Suppression Won.

Here are the numbers from investigative reporter Greg Palast...

Signal boosting this incredibly important reporting from legendary investigative journalist Greg Palast. The 2024 election was stolen, and he's got the numbers to prove it. If you're not already mad, you should be.

[fromthedeskofsigma]

How They Corralled the Big Boy

(Pictured: the iconic sign of the Frisch's Mainliner restaurant. The sign was dismantled this past Monday. Another sign on the other side of the restaurant, barely visible in the background of this photo, has been left to decay and probably crush someone's car when it finally collapses.)

In 2015, Frisch's, a local family restaurant chain that's been around since 1939, was bought out by an out-of-state private-equity firm. Late last year, after a solid nine years of the new ownership neglecting the chain's financial needs to pad their own pockets, locations started getting shut down en masse. Recently, that rot finally came for my local restaurant and long-time haunt, which happened to also be the chain's flagship for most of its existence: the Mainliner. I was devastated. I was angry. And when I get angry, I start looking for who to blame and how to fix it. In looking into the specifics of how it all went down, I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole. Buckle up--things are about to go a bit Pepe Silvia.

(Pictured: Things going a bit Pepe Silvia.) From 2015 up until this past November, Frisch's was owned by NRD Capital, a flock of private-equity vultures from Atlanta, GA. They're the ones getting all the flak for the chain's collapse, and rightly so; they were, after all, profiting off the chain while refusing to put enough back into it to keep staff employed or rent paid...wait. Rent? Yes, while Frisch's restaurants originally owned the land they were built on, 74 of the locations--including my beloved Mainliner--were sold to Florida real-estate holdings company NNN REIT a mere four months after NRD bought the chain out. NNN then proceeded to ratchet up the rent, which NRD refused to pay for; it all came to a head in just this past year, with NNN ordering the eviction of every single Frisch's restaurant that sat on what was now their property.

(Pictured: NNN as envisioned by Walt Disney, probably.) And I thought a lot of that was odd. After all, NRD didn't stand to gain anything from selling their own property and leasing it back. They couldn't even claim it was for short-term gain, either--they sold the land for less than a third of what they paid to buy the entire company, after all. I figured there had to be more to this story, so I started digging, looking for any commonality between NRD and NNN besides screwing over Frisch's and having inscrutable naming conventions. Everything I checked came up a dead end--no other investments in common, no shared executives, not even a shareholder with stake in both companies. They didn't seem to have any connection at all. I mean, it was a private-equity firm started by some Pakistani dude and a real-estate holding company started by Golden Corral.

(Pictured: a real estate mogul, apparently.)

And wouldn't you know it, it was Golden Corral, of all things, that ended up being the through-line for this entire story.

(Pictured: EEEEEEVIL! EEEEEEEVIL!)

NNN REIT started out as a holding company specifically for Golden Corral's restaurant properties. Coincidentally, NRD owns multiple Golden Corral franchises; naturally, the actual property those restaurants sit on is owned by NNN. Here's the crazy part: pretty much ALL of those properties are in the Greater Cincinnati Area, and NRD bought them in 2012 when they were sold by their original franchisee, allegedly due to lackluster profit margins but timed right in the middle of a major norovirus outbreak at a restaurant in Wyoming that led to accusations of widespread improper food handling. The original franchisee company was...Frisch's. I couldn't make this up if I tried.

(Pictured: One [1] Very Screwed Franchisee)

So, what does all this mean? Well, not a whole lot you could prove in court, I don't reckon, but to me it sounds like the company that started out as a subsidiary holding company of Golden Corral but became the effective owner of Golden Corral decided to turn a short-term loss into a long-term property grab by using a current franchisee to buy out a former one. Is that legal? Good question, but it sure the hell doesn't feel like it ought to be.

(Pictured: The exact wrong person to ask.)

I'm sure there's more to this story, and since I'm in a unique position to observe one of the properties this story's being built around, I'll keep an eye out for any further developments...assuming I don't get disappeared by a bunch of overweight Floridians. SOURCES: https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/business/2012/03/14/atlanta-company-buys-golden-corral/10712484007/https://www.nnnreit.com/about-us/

[fromthedeskofsigma]

An Open Letter to Cenk Uygur

I'm Youtube user SigmAnalog. I've been watching the The Young Turks since I was in high school--I think around 2010-ish? It's hard for me to say exactly, but that doesn't especially matter. What matters is that, even though I've never been financially stable enough to afford a paid membership, I've been hanging on every word from your mouth for my entire adult life so far.

Just this once, though, I want you to listen to me, without judging or immediately dismissing my words as meaningless. They come from a place of admiration and concern.

Yesterday, Mondale Robinson very publicly announced his decision to leave your network. He's far from the first--Jimmy Dore and Dave Rubin were VERY noticeable departures, and we rightfully decried them for caving to moneyed interests on the right.

This is not what has happened with Mondale Robinson.

Mayor Robinson left because you and Ana--the two loudest voices in the room on this network--have completely lost the plot. You've railed against "cancel culture" as being "anti-free-speech," not because it makes having or voicing unpopular opinions dangerous, but because it makes it harder to arrange for paid venues in which to broadcast them. You repeatedly and brazenly parroted right-wing talking points about the border without providing any kind of pushback against what is very obviously a racist, nationalist framing of a serious humanitarian issue. You, personally, fought tooth and nail AGAINST letting your employees unionize with IATSE, then tried to pretend you were never against the idea instead of owning up to your own mistakes. Most recently, you've started talking about how supporting trans rights is tactically disadvantageous to the Left, and Ana has gone on Glenn Beck's show, of all people, to claim that trans people's civil rights are an unfair "purity test" and that their rights can't interfere with the rights of "actual women," which is EXACTLY what ghouls like Nancy Mace and others on the right are using as an excuse to deny trans people the right to PEE, let alone exist.

This is not okay. NONE OF THIS is okay. Like you, I'm a firm believer in the idea that the Left needs to have room for a broad range of opinions and perspectives, but there needs to be a limit--we cannot expect to survive as an ideology when core tenets of our ideology are up for debate. It is a core belief of leftism that all people, regardless of their country of origin, deserve to be treated with dignity and kindness. It is a core belief of leftism that labor needs to be able to organize itself, without exception--even when company leadership has their workers' best interests at heart. It is a core belief of leftism that NOBODY should have to live as a second-class citizen for the benefit of others' comfort. As for "cancel culture," well, if you're such a big believer in a free market, you should already know that "freedom of speech" doesn't mean "freedom to get paid for speech," and it's a little embarrassing that I should have to explain that to someone who literally works in media.

I don't want you to quit media. I don't want you to shutter TYT. I REALLY don't want to watch the entire network turn into yet another outlet for centrist garbage or partisan cheerleading or--least of all--MAGA's endless stream of toxic waste. I don't want any of that, but I can't deny what my eyes are seeing or ears are hearing, and it looks and sounds like something in that vein is happening at TYT, and you and Ana, as the CEO and two most prominent anchors on the network, are at the center of it. You are the ones with the power to right this ship.

I'm still subscribed to the main TYT Youtube channel, and will continue to be for the forseeable future. I want to see you get better. I want to see this network go back to speaking truth to power, like it did when I first started watching in 2010. I'm stubbornly optimistic enough to believe you will, but even I have my limits. All I ask is that you step back for a moment, reflect on the direction TYT has been going these past few years, and ask yourself if this is really what's right--for yourself, for your company, and for all of us.

Happy Holidays. I hope to see you return in 2025 refreshed, energized, and with a clear view of your path ahead.

[fromthedeskofsigma]

Because I remain unrestrained (despite prior incidents), have me taking my DM's first attempt at naming the Dwarven cleric in our demon-slaying campaign and running with it. They ultimately went with a marginally less stupid (and infinitely less memorable) name, but Father Dumpy lives on to kick arse for the Lord!...Someday. Eventually. Maybe.

[sigmareblog]

Pixel Stitchcraft is OPEN!

Hey there, gamers! Are you looking for quality cross-stitch to decorate your walls? Your shelves? Your refrigerator (inside and out)? Your ugliest child (inside and out)? Of course you are! And @pixelstitchcraft by @archangel-of-anxiety is your one-stop shop for fibercraft that looks like it was rendered on a Sega Genesis! She's just starting out, so her selection is somewhat limited, but it's all very high-quality, extremely detailed original work! Commissions are open...ish; she's still trying to figure out how to put it on the site proper, but if you use the contact option on the site, she'll be happy to work with you! Go to https://pixelstitchcraft.bigcartel.com/ now!...Or, y'know, whenever you feel like you've got time. But preferably now!

[guerrillatech]

[a-bed-of-moss-deactivated202605]

Peer reviewed:

[labelleizzy]

One of my students refused to say the pledge or salute the flag and to be fair this 12 year old kid was the first person I knew to defy this expectation and it was the first time I was forced to THINK ABOUT IT.

Thank you, Dustin!

Because that whole process IS Fucking Weirdo Nationalist Shit. Normalized, 188/365 days a year over 12 years, that's a LOT of mindless habit building and social conformity forced on us by authority

[fromthedeskofsigma]

Friendly reminder to anyone who wants to do this: having a rebuttal that makes people think about the implications of the Pledge of Allegiance is great, but if they're not receptive to it or you don't have the energy or wherewithal to hash it all out with them over the few minutes (at most) of free time you get before and after, you can always just remind them that your Constitutional right to free speech also gives you the right to freedom from having to speak. If they really want to press the issue, you can always ask them how well they think the argument will hold up in a federal court of law. It worked for me, and it can work for you, too. Happy subverting, ya little shits. Uncle Sigma's got your back.

[iusedtobecharming-deactivated20]

Do we have a franz kafka diary entry for july 1st, i want to know what he thinks!!!

[rehearsing]

happy too tired July everyone

[datcravat]

[datcravat]

Just went through all the tags and couldn't find a single spoiler. good job team

[lammergeierdust]

:)

[flutterbuck]

[firesidoni]

oh damn, okay, so literally last night i was talking with friends about how unrealistic the golden horse in tears of the kingdom is and how it feels like they were just trying to one-up the white horse in breath of the wild, and then i run across this post, do a tiny bit of looking, and—no really gold horses are actually literally a real-world thing!

[sunshine304]

I remember reading about this breed in horse books. They're indeed very very old (over 3000 years old) and come from the deserts in turkmenistan. The way their hair is built helps them with the extreme temperature changes in the desert.

They're tough, with high endurance and intelligence, friendly and sensitive.

[ironwoman359]

Oh my god if 8 year old me had known about this it would have been OVER

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

For all of the northerners that stood up for Texas during our freeze and said, "Don't make fun of them, they've never dealt with this before. Their infrastructure isn't made for snow and freezing."

This one is for you.

Where I live 108°F with 80% humidity with no wind is normal.

Pacific North West is dealing historic best waves 35-40°C or 95-105°F.

First of all. Don't make fun of them for bitching about the heat. Just like Texas isn't built for a freeze and our pipes burst, Pacific North West isn't built for heat and a lot of their homes don't have AC.

If you live somewhere with a high humidity like 80+ HUMIDITY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. The "humidity makes it feel cooler" is a lie once it gets beyond a point.

If you live somewhere with a lower humidity, misters are nice to cool off outside.

Once you get over 90°F (32°C) a fan will not help you. It's just pushing around hot air. (I mean if you can't afford a small AC unit because they're expensive as hell, by all means a fan is better than nothing).

If you have pets, those portable AC units aren't safe. If your pets destroy the outtake thing, it'll leak CO2. Window units are safer.

Window AC units will let mosquitoes or other small bugs in. Sucks, but that's life.

Now is not the time to me modest. If you have to cover for religious reasons, by all means. If you don't, I've seen people wear short shorts and a swim top. It's not trashy if it keeps you from getting heat stroke.

If you do have to cover up for religious reasons, look for elephant pants or something similar. They're made with a breathable material.

Shade is better than no shade, but that shit it just diet sun after some point. Don't think shade will save you from heat stroke.

I know the "drink your water" is a fun meme now, but if you're sweating excessively you need electrolytes. Drink Gatorade, Powerade, or Pedialite PLEASE. I don't care if you're fucking sitting in one spot all day. That shit WILL save you from heat stroke.

Most importantly. RESEARCH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAT STROKE AND HEAT EXHAUSTION PLEASE!

If you're diabetic and can't drink Gatorade, mix water, fruit juice, and either lite salt or pink salt

If you can afford it, cover windows with thick curtains to insulate the house

If you have tile floors, lay on them with skin to tile contact. If you don't, laying your head on cool counters works too.

If the temperature where you're at is hotter than your body temperature, don't wear heat wicking clothing. Moisture wicking is safe though.

Check your medication labels. Many make you more susceptible to sun and heat

-Room temperature water will get into your body faster. This is something I learned doing marching band in high summer in Georgia, and it saved all of our asses. Sip it, don't gulp it, especially if you're getting into the red; same goes for whatever fluid you're drinking. And just in general drink during the day.

-If you are moving from an air conditioned space to an un-air conditioned space, if at all possible try to make the shift gradual. When my dad and I were working outside and in un-ac houses a few years ago, he'd turn the air down to low in the truck about ten-fifteen minutes before we got where we were going. This way your body doesn't go from low low temps to high temps. S'bad for you.

-If you can, keep your lights off during the day. Light bulbs may not generate a lot of heat, but the difference is noticeable when it gets hot enough. I literally only turn my bedroom light on in the evening when it gets too dark.

Don't be afraid to just like... pour water on yourself if you need to. The evaporation will cool you off.

Put your hand to the cement for 15 seconds. If you can't handle the heat, it'll burn your dog's paws. Don't let them walk on it.

Dogs with flat faces are more prone to heat stroke. Don't leave them out unsupervised.

Frozen fruit is delicious in water.

Wet/Cold hat/handkerchief on your head/neck will help you stay cool.

Pickle juice is great for electrolytes! You can even make pickle juice Popsicles!

Heat exhaustion is more, "drink water and get you cooled off." Heat stroke is more "Oh my god call 911."

Image Description provided by @loveize

[Image description: an infographic showing the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The graphic is labeled "Heat Dangers: First Warning." Signs of heat exhaustion: faint or dizzy, excessive sweating, cool, pale, clammy skin, rapid, weak pulse, muscle cramps. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat exhaustion, get to a cool, air-conditioned place, drink water if conscious, and take a cool shower or use cold compress. Signs of heat stroke: throbbing headache, no sweating, red, hot, dry skin, rapid, strong pulse, may lose consciousness. If you think you or someone else may be experiencing heat stroke, call 911. End description]

Be safe.

-fae

[bits-and-pieces-of]

As someone who works outdoors in the summertime: OP is very, very correct and heat is NOT a joke.

I would also like to add that beyond a certain temperature, cold water can genuinely be dangerous as a shock to your system. Roofers especially are often BARRED from drinking cold water, because going from nearly 40°C heat and then drinking something ice-cold can CAUSE ACTUAL SEIZURES.

Your best bet is lukewarm or slightly cool water, combined with wrapping an ice pack in some cloth and putting it on the back of your neck or tucking it into your belt.

And for the love of god if you have to go outside, wear BIG FLOPPY UGLY HATS as well as sunscreen. (Good Sunscreen. 60SPF minimum.) Sunburns retain heat and are Fucking Miserable on top of giving you cancer. Bad ones dry out your skin and can cause infections when you’re still sweating a lot and it gets into blisters.

Heat Stress is cumulative. If you are out trying to do the same thing Monday to Friday, something that you could manage on Monday is probably going to knock you flat on your ass on Friday if you don’t pace yourself.

If you’ve had any sort of heat-stress illness in the past, you are more prone to getting it again and more easily than someone who’s never had it.

[themythicalcodfish]

reblogging bc it’s getting solidly into the Deep Heat where I am.

[lockhartandlych]

another huge warning sign that i tend not to see talked about:

vomiting.

sometimes when you've been out in the heat for long enough your body decides to puke its guts up. idk why or how, but when it's happened to me that's been my sign to get out of the sun

[owl-librarian]

I'm from the PNW and lived somewhere hot for this first time a few years ago and this is all really really good info. Some additional stuff I learned:

I spent one heat wave lying on a wet towel on my hard floor in a bikini in front of a fan. The towel was wet with cold water.

Another tip, put away the heat absorbers. Got a closet? Stuff as much of your clothes, jackets, extra fuzzy blankets, spare pillows, whatever might be warm or fuzzy or trap heat in there and CLOSE THE DOOR. I had one of those open wardrobes, but in a heatwave I took everything hanging on it and stuffed it into my front hall closet (only closet in my apt) and it really helped cool off my room.

If you don't have AC, go somewhere that does, at least for a while. Public libraries don't charge you to be in them and they are often designated cooling points. Go spend a couple hours, use the free wifi, read a book, whatever. (If you have a university in your town, this may also be a good option. A lot of them have older buildings that - even if they don't have ac - stay a little cooler because they are often made out of SOLID materials that do some heat insulating)

[amilkyway]

fireflies lighting up a rural Pennsylvania field at dusk

[spaghettinatural]

As a european i sometimes forget furefkied are actually real and not american folklore/cryptids. Like you’ve got friendly little bugs that glow in the dark….. b r uh

[roach-works]

in case europeans were worried: we love them very much! even tho they’re clumsy and slow and sometimes bump into you, no one swats fireflies here, or takes them for granted. even grownups sometimes reach out in the summer and gently catch a firefly for a minute before letting it go.

[actualaster]

By “reach out” that’s meant quite literally–you just kinda. Stick your hand in their flight path and they land on you and will sit on your hand for a bit. Sometimes if you’re just walking or standing outside while they’re active you have to shoo them off you because they’ll just. Sit on you.

They’re harmless and very pretty and it’s always a treat to see because they’re out for a relatively short time each year.

[grawly]

i wish i could see this picture for the first time again

[azzandra]

Every time I see some gamerbro edit of a female video game character to make her 'prettier', I always see something I have mentally dubbed Cockroach Wife Syndrome (in honor of the guy who accidentally conditioned himself to only be aroused by a fantasy of his cockroach wife Ogtha).

That is to say, there is a certain subset of gamerbro who interacts so rarely with real women, that his primary touchstone for how women look is fiction: often video games and anime. So when a video game woman looks too realistic--too close to having traits that one might find in real flesh and blood women--this is foreign to them. This is unattractive. They have been jacking it to hentai and blender animation porn for too many years, and have inadvertently conditioned themselves to only be sexually aroused by the exaggerated cartoonish traits of animated women.

So now every time I see one such edit, I can't help but think. My. What a coincidence you've made her look more like an anime waifu. Truly dedicated to your cockroach wife.

[moth-grrrl-mavis]

You can’t just breeze over something like “the guy who accidentally conditioned himself to only be aroused by a fantasy of his cockroach wife Ogtha” without at least linking a 20 minute video breakdown of this man’s descent into madness.

[kunosoura]

Oh is Ogtha not common knowledge? Eight years ago this was posted on reddit:

Two years ago, we got this update on the life of this roachfucker:

TLDR it's a guy who became obsessed with human-sized roaches with human intelligence after reading Kafka in high school, an obsession which eventually came to monopolize his romantic interests (and has sporadically had catastrophic impacts on his life ever since).

[grawly]

what the fuck happened to my post

[milf-adjacent]

Shh... We're reading about the cockroach wife tulpa

[sauntervaguelydown]

So after wondering about this odd choice in terms, I finally looked it up and

The OG Ishikawa Goemon was a ninja? Literally, he was a ninja. There's like a half dozen versions of his life, because he's a folk hero, and in half of them he's a trained ninja and in the other half he's just a bandit. I’ve been thinking the whole time I’ve been into Lupin III that it’s weird how they keep calling our Goemon a samurai, because he’s not, actually? He’s not a samurai. He’s a goddamn ninja.

Why are we not on the same page here???

[publicdomainbooksdevotee]

Ishikawa Goemon (manga/anime) is a samurai like Don Quixote is a knight--too late, historically inaccurate, and attacking inanimate objects.

[aichu-dechu]

A man in Stockholm really took that last bit to heart.