Wk 42 - Notes and Links
Wk 42 - Notes and Links
A small mention: Oct 22 is International Wombat Day! Get out there and celebrate!
Ten things in the news
Men can identify as women these days. Three men can can also identify as one women and win a writing prize.
“We’re not ignorant people,” he says. I may have some bad news for you, sir.
Navy investigation finds crew's response to fire included "This is just some fog, right?", "Someone else probably reported this", and "What's the regulation on wearing firefighting gear over my uniform?"
'The exact cause of the accident is unclear, and police are investigating' but given that an O2 cylinder was sucked into the MRI when a patient was in it, the answer seems clear
In 2008, a Ukrainian company went on a spree, buying up dozens of dead or dying factories and industrial sites across the Midwest. The phrase "Ukrainian company" was your clue this was less about economic revitalization and more "money laundering"
Australia is trying to vaccinate all of its koalas against chlamydia. They'll have 100 per cent vaccination for their koalas long before the US has 80 per cent vaccination against Covid.
PINs can be guessed through observation much of the time.
China demands ransom money from Sony because … reasons!
Amazing Obit
The Chinese never had any designs on Iraq. Their only intention was to buy that oil with money - which, after all the lethal and expensive dust settled, they did anyway, oil being fungible. The Iraq imperialism was entirely performative and unnecessary. Anyway, Colin Powell died.
This week in data
Scots accent found to be the UK’s sexiest. I don’t think they mean all the Scottish accents. Does it really matter what they say in Glasgow? It all means the same thing: Give me a cigarette or my mom will stab you.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Deplatforming people like Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Owen Benjamin as a Moderation Strategy on Twitter
A study of the impact of prayer on cardiac patient outcomes.
New Research Shows Social Media Doesn't Turn People Into Assholes (They Already Were), And Everyone's Wrong About Echo Chambers
A new research paper written by a team of academics and computer scientists from Spain and Austria has demonstrated that it's possible to use Facebook's targeting tools to deliver an ad exclusively to a single individual if you know enough about the interests Facebook's platform assigns them.
Chemicals Used In Packaging May Play Role In 100,000 US Deaths a Year. The group of chemicals called phthalates, also known as plasticizers, may contribute to the early deaths of 91,000 to 107,000 older adults in the US each year, according to a new study. Adults between 55 and 64 with the highest concentrations of phthalates in their urine were more likely to die of any cause, especially heart disease, than adults with lesser exposure, according to the study published on Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Pollution.
People with a conspiracy mindset are no less likely to accept vaccines — so long as their friends accept them, too
Facebook AI Moderation Continues To Suck Because Moderation At Scale Is Impossible
Over 30k Movies & TV Shows Organized By Where And When The Story Took Place.
This week in science and tech
If you had "Less than one" as the answer to "How many days until Trump's new social media platform collapses?" step forward and claim your prize
Facebook thinking of a rebrand to dodge the ongoing PR stink.
Since its launch in 2007, the price of the iPhone has gone up more than 80 per cent around the world, according to a new study that looked at iPhone prices all over the world and their increase and decrease over the years.
Client side scanning: Yeah say ‘what about the children’ all you want but it’s a security and privacy nightmare ready for exploit
COVID-19 reinfection is likely among unvaccinated individuals, Yale study finds
Ad-Blocking Chrome Extension Caught Injecting Ads in Google Search Pages
We're finally capable of detecting solar flares days before they hit us. Too bad we're totally unprepared if one comes our way
This week in unintended consequences
If only there had been a good stove with a gun.
New Study Finds Ridesharing Actually Increases Pollution, Congestion
Facebook AI moderator confused videos of mass shootings and car washes
This week in listening pleasure
In the past several years China’s diplomats have again used sharper language — it’s been called ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’ and has a long history. Peter Martin discusses China’s diplomacy today and its impact; describes the motivations behind wolf warrior diplomacy and how diplomats are being rewarded for their aggressive rhetoric and posture.
This week in viewing pleasure
Debunking some of the hype around 3D-printing concrete homes.
The Imperial March played on a Tesla Coil
Old but horrifying: Nestle chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, says water is not a human right. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." ― Upton Sinclair.
This week's weird news
Dumb Criminals
Man gets $1 million in veteran’s benefits, spotted tossing his wheelchair into the back of his BMW, and posting lifting weights at a gym on social media.
"If he is sentenced to immediate imprisonment, purely from the perspective of the fact he is a prisoner, it would have a reputational impact on his business.” And killing a pedestrian in his Rolls Royce does’t matter?
Whatever you do, don't commit a home invasion. But if you do, don't get lost in the thick woods. But if you do, don't call 911 hours later for help finding your way home.
Wait…what?
‘This Was Not A Suicide’: New Evidence In Death Of Ellen Greenberg, Philadelphia Teacher Found Stabbed 20 Times
New Mexico, a landlocked state, is dealing with shark attacks.
Local TV Station Apologizes For Playing Porn During Weather Report.
A Tepid Distopia
https://www.womenarehuman.com/A Kaiser Health News review of 50 US states, legislators have proposed bills to curb such public health powers since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 26 of these. At least 26 legislatures passed laws permanently weakening government authority to protect public health. Guess which states?
Gerrymandering, which is illegal in Canada, is an art form that looks like modern art in the US.
People watching
A practical joke played on academics two decades ago is still funny but the craziness it parodied have become commonplace. Sokal toiled on his manuscript for months. “I had to revise and revise until it reached the desired level of unclarity,” he said. (You may need reader mode in your browser to see the article.)
The most influential science fiction books of all time, a list for you to yell at me about.
Prior to testing the first atomic bomb, Manhattan Project physicists made bets on the whether the bomb would ignite the atmosphere and vaporize Earth.
When men began obsessing over abs
Looking Back at Rod Serling’s Legendary Narration
Post of the week
Earlier tonight my wife had a small red bump on the side of her foot. She took some ibuprofen and the redness and swelling went away but she swore she felt a lump in her foot where the bump was.
She can be a bit of a hypochondriac so I though to put her mind at ease I would use a flashlight to put against her foot to show her veins. My train of thought was we would see her veins and if their was a lump of some sort we would see it in such a small thin bony part of the body. Once we didn't see anything she would relax.
So, my plan worked and she immediately felt better. But it forgot how cool it is to see the red skin and veins in your body. I decided to do it on myself.
I sat on the coffee table and put the flashlight under my left hand using the right hand to hold the flashlight. This isn't a normal flashlight. It's a 1000 lumen tactical flashlight. So I had it up against my hand and am amazed by all the vessels running through my palm and fingers.
I lean over and am staring intensely. Suddenly the lens got really hot. I don't know how hot it was, but it burned just like touching a hot stove. I moved my hand instead of the flashlight. The problem was I was still looking down at the light.
1000 lumens straight to eyes. It immediately blinded me and the natural reaction was to sit up and throw myself backwards. I fell over off the coffee table and landed between the couch and coffee table. So I'm laying there, burned and blind trying to think why I do this kind of stuff to myself. It's been 30 minutes and I still see a bright circle when I blink.
Quotes found on-line
Fox news appears to have a suicide pact with its viewers.
At least goth/emo/scene was just fashion and music and not irreversible medical procedures.
"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong
Your comment is horrifically disgusting. Take my upvote
I think that the people Fauci is most angry with aren't the idiots, it's the liars. Most of the idiots are victims, not perpetrators. Not all, but most.
Please note the following correction: The article on page B12 should have used Satan in the headline and not Satin.
WMDs were the Ivermectin of 2003.
For decades they cultivated the stupid because they figured it would be easier to control. But now the stupid has its own momentum and they are left with no choice but to chase the stupid.
If what Trump says is an obvious lie, that's to fool the mainstream, not us, his supporters. Also, Trump never lies and believe everything he says. But he actually talks in code which only we can understand. But sometimes the code is meant to fool the mainstream, which is why there's a subcode that only we understand. But if we don't understand it, it's because us believing something stupid is part of the plan. Trust the plan.
Life without pants is so satisfying!
I got pulled over for running a red light. However, I was travelling at 60 per cent of the speed of light so red (650 nm) looked green (520 nm). How should I argue this in traffic court, please?
Sadly these days the truth is hard to find, mostly due to habitat loss and competition from introduced predators
He looks like one of those 'masculinity coaches' on YouTube who claim they'll teach you how to be an 'alpha' and finally get laid.
I don't know if "unreasonable" would be the right word. Maybe "hallucinatory" or "paranoid schizophrenic" would be closer.
So I stared into the abyss and it told me to stop staring because that's rude.
I've been told, dead serious, by a high school teacher that we didn't go there to stop communism, we just went there to punish Viet-Nam for becoming communist. And I really had to pause, look the professional educator in the eye, and try and explain why that's so much fucking worse.
Anybody around you could be wearing a butt plug in public.
When crickets find a mate do they finally shut the fuck up?
I promised to never tell another soul the rumours I heard today, but if any soulless beings want some juicy gossip hit me up
I'm going to pretend it's psychosis and not bother the FBI
My niece asked what ever happened to my abusive ex that I broke up with years ago, and my response was "Don't know, don't care." My mom says "you aren't friends on Facebook or anything?" Nope. The way I see it, when the doctor says you've beaten cancer, the last thing you wanna do is go smoke a celebratory cigarette.
A tambourine should never be used in anger
We cannot have terms such as mothers restricted to those people that just give birth to a child as it’s exclusionary.
Have you ever done the sex with a sexy Mona Lisa replica? It’ll change your life
Vaccine mandates aren’t discrimination or segregation, especially since they have been around for years. That’s like it’s saying it’s segregation for not allowing nudists to be naked in stores, or segregation only allowing people who have a license to drive.
A research reactor I was working on just after 9/11 wasn't allowed to store their un-used rods on site in their secure rooms as the site wasn't considered "secure enough." But the "secure" site the rods were to be sent to wasn't ready until early 2005. Which means for three and a half years the rods were sitting in a closet, only protected by an interior office lock.
To get into the Emperor's fashion show, you have to leave your dark glasses and white cane at the door, and then trip over the first chair you do not see. How any of that could reflect badly on the tailor, I do not know.
Thank you for reading my one-act play titled "People who don't know what the fuck they're doing should not be allowed to write regulations."
How does this messy, confusing guesswork stand in for actual leadership?
I think of Trumpism as the emperor's new clothes with a twist. The addition is that he also wanted a cut out of the amazing gown that would reveal who was a fool, so he was able to sell a bunch of them to his supporters. There thus is never the climax of everyone laughing at the naked emperor anymore. There's instead a lot of people who would fight tooth and nail defending the emperor that he's not naked...otherwise it would mean that they're naked too.
I am now aware that I entirely missed the point and that this is a good thing.
I don't need this kind of trigger in my life. My mother called me the other day in her best Disney princess voice.
The truth is: Democrats are just mildly better than Republicans, in the sense that a broken leg is better than a broken back.
As a child, I thought my adulthood would be dealing in part with quicksand, low-lying fog and Axis spies. I am pleased to report I have encountered neither. Fucking spider webs, however…
It could just be the triple layer of Spanx holding her upright.
Connie Chung once picked a praying mantis off of my ass. She was behind me in line at a restaurant, I felt a tap on my arm. Turned around and she's like, you probably don't want this on you when you get inside. Yep, nice lady, that Connie Chung. Classy.
You’re not making the point you think you’re making.
Currently in the parking garage trying to find my inner peace
Probably won't be long before urinals start appearing in the women's restroom by this rate.
If anyone is planning to murder me, please wait until Saturday. That’s when I turn 30, and I’m really excited for it. It’s a huge milestone for me, so don’t kill me until then. Thanks.
He was in the control group for vaccines and the experimental group for prayers. Unfortunately for him, the data shows no difference in outcomes between the prayer experimental group and the no prayer control group.
Never leave planning until the last minute - start now so you'll have ample time to freak out later
How unemployed do you need to be to have the time and dedication to write a screed like this?
I seriously doubt Bannon will ever either serve a day in prison or be forced to part with any significant sum of his dragon's hoard of wealth.
My Gramps always says that he doesn’t understand why people go to strip clubs because, “you get all that lead in your pencil with nobody to write to.”
For "silenced" people they sure make a damn lot of noise
How horrible that reality won't bend to your will. Maybe Mr Trump, you should write a book about your experiences. You know, your struggle.
Guys like that need to run into guys like him and let them fix the problem on their own
Gaslighting isn’t even a real thing
2.7 billion people have been fully vaccinated. Sixteen thousand would be something like .0006 per cent. As a plot to kill off the population of the world, it's less effective than tobacco.
I swear, they are using BLM to mean both Black Lives Matter and Bureau of Land Management interchangeably at this point.
As a Gen-Xer, I feel betrayed by the babyboomers who benefied so much from he polio vaccine but have now become antivaxxers.
Turns out that it’s a lot easier to lecture other people about their lives and choices than to critically assess your own.
I'm Scottish and get English people all the time refusing to speak until they get an English person. Problem is, there’re only 2 call centres for this company in the UK and they're both in Scotland. If it was a quiet day I would fuck with them and place them on hold for a random company. Like they phoned about their banking problem, gave me shite, I'd put them on hold for Michelin tyres, or customer service to QVC or some such. I would keep them on hold until the random company answered, then transfer the call. Then both sides of the call have no idea what's going on. I almost got a warning for putting an irate customer through to the samaritans (suicide prevention instead of Dell). My bosses couldn't listen to the call without laughing.
Enemas don’t give me a feeling of accomplishment.
Never let a good crisis go to waste, particularly if you're a cynical, callous opportunist.
My hospital got rid of the anonymous staff surveys. Now they just buy the “best place to work” awards.
Last night I dressed in black, cut down my neighbour’s wind chimes and dropped them into the sewer.
If I live in America, how many Ethiopian bananas would I need to buy to save money, after a two way trip to Ethiopia?
Koala Clap is what Men Down Under got after a three day bender at an outback nymphomaniac nudist colony.
Potatoes are the most versatile of foods. Not only can you make a variety of tasty dishes from them, but they're also solid enough that you can put a few russets into a sock to make a pretty effective weapon.
The placebo effect kicks in 30 min after your first injection and you realise that it's not that bad.
Had to explain to a drunk grandfather that a Cub Scout meeting is not an appropriate place to discuss race politics and that we don't need to hear his feelings on what went wrong in Memphis.
Two-Sheds Paul I used to work with. If you had a shed, he had two sheds. Each bigger than your one shed, gold plated, diamond encrusted containing every power tool known to man and three ride on lawnmowers. If you got a car he had to go and get a bigger, faster more expensive car. If you got a decent watch he had to go and buy a Rolex. He lived in huge debt due to one upping everyone.
The smoke is part of the equipment diagnostic procedure. If you see smoke that means it's time to buy a new one.
Why do these clowns increasingly sound like they're LARPing in a weird despotic state as one might find imaged in a young adult science fiction novel?
Evidence is too often used to as tool to silence.
The purpose of metaphysics is to ask questions: "Why are we here?" "Where are we going after we die?" (and so on); and that you are not allowed to answer the questions. Asking the questions is the point of metaphysics, but answering them is not, because once you answer this kind of question, you cross the line into religion - Robert A Heinlein
I want to accept the call of the void but it's calling collect and I don't want to pay the fee. Am I just being cheap? I don't think I should have to pay for the call.
Trump skin’s so thin that you can see the oatmeal in his skull where his brain used to be. For a motherfucker who said he will never be seen again if he lost to Joe, he seems to be seen a lot since losing to Joe.
No one is saying he can’t wear cowboy boots at the office, my issue is the manure on them.
I have a Halloween 5k coming up and am thinking of wearing a ridiculous inflatable costume. Has anybody here ever ran in a inflatable suit for a 5k? How did it effect your run time?
I need some space and I am out of time, this cake recipe is a disaster so far.
You’re horrifically disgusting. Take my upvote.
What do you mean ‘an emotional support duck’?
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