Wk 47 - Notes and Links
Wk 47 - Notes and Links
Ten things in the news
Fourty-four per cent of US non-parents aged 18-49 now say it's not likely that they will have children someday. The main reasons? Apathy, financial instability, or the lack of a partner
Sometimes the end of an empire is signalled by a dramatic event: The sacking of a city, a revolution, plague or natural disaster, and sometimes it's a subtle thing like the Dollar Tree having to increase prices by 25% because of currency value decline
Seven doctors contract Covid after attending Florida anti-vaccine summit
'Replica' £40,000 Constable painting now believed to be real thing worth up to £5m
A short, clear summary of the Ukranian situation: They’re fucked.
Someone in Canada is assaulting theatergoers and damaging screens in theaters that show Bollywood movies.
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A Knoxville man could face decades in prison after he allegedly held restaurant employees at gunpoint after being told it would take 10 minutes to make his pizza.
A British journalist says goodbye to America and writes about what he will and will not miss
Birthdays
Today, 47 years ago, the fossil known as Lucy was discovered.
About China
China’s having a lot of rolling blackouts. Why? It’s partially how they produce energy, how they regulate it and market forces. Here’s a video about the China’s power problems.
When characterising China’s “grand strategy”, Rudd noted three core ideological undercurrents that form Beijing’s economic and foreign policy.
How can a nation so powerful, so demanding of respect, and so quick to intimidate others be apparently so afraid of a tennis player?
This week in data
Could you sail in a straight line from NY to Europe?
app.electricitymap.org - Tells you where electricity production is coming from at different hours of the day, and how much it costs per MwH in many different countries, and how much emissions are being put into the atmosphere, again, by hour.
The UK is reforming is data protection laws. The aim to establish a “pro-growth and innovation friendly” data protection regime that is more practical and “business friendly“. Another take on the plan is that everything that Cambridge Analytica did would probably be legal.
Do you know how brown you were cycling, sir?
Psychological Consequences of Social Isolation During COVID-19 Outbreak
https://oec.world/en - Shows you all the trade data in the world for imports and exports of goods, raw materials, who provides who with what.
Love an author, but read absolutely everything they ever wrote? Literature Map will help you find authors of a similar writing style
SciHub: Paywall-free access to scientific papers. Currently at https://sci-hub.wf/ but the domain changes slightly from time to time.
This week in science and tech
Not a single scientist has applied to a UK government visa scheme for Nobel prize laureates and other award winners since its launch six months ago.
Clearly never having watched Space: 1999, NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon.
Scientists predict that like Saturn, Earth will one day also have rings... except ours will be made out of junk.
Research has found that chemotherapy can trigger muscle loss in people living with cancer, but a new study out of Penn State found it may also affect the way the body builds new muscle. People with cancer are often recommended to exercise as a way to build up muscle they've lost due to their illness and treatment. But if chemotherapy also affects the way the body builds new muscle, that will have to be taken into consideration when designing exercise programs.
What are architectural design review panels for asks Radio Australia?
Scientists key in on brain’s mechanism for singing, learning
This week in listening pleasure
Why 'Useful Delusions' can sometimes make us vulnerable to misinformation
Bioshock: After Midnight, a sci-fi audio drama.
The Music of Eric Zann, a short story written by HP Lovecraft, read by a man with a deep, deep voice.
Forgery was the dirty little secret of the Middle Ages. As historian Levi Roach explains, some of Europe’s leading holy men cooked up counterfeit documents to rewrite the past as they thought it should have happened.
Simon Schama explores the legacy of the 18th and 19th-century Romantic artistic movement on the modern world
Why are lonely men a growing threat to our safety? Not me, of course.
This week in viewing pleasure
Cleaning things with a 2000-watt laser. These have come along way since Goldfinger, right Mr. Bond?
Documentary Heaven - Free documentaries
Why was Roman Concrete Forgotten during the Middle Ages?
In Search Of A Flat Earth: Religion teaches people to believe unbelievable narratives. It trains them to see the world as a parable, which allows story tellers to control their minds and gets them to believe weird things like the Earth is flat. About 37 minutes in he addresses the QAnon weirdness.
Filmmaker Terry Gilliam reviews deleted scenes from his fantasy film the Brothers Grimm. For anyone interested in writing fiction, he makes several good observations: the audience needs less information than authors believe. Get to the point.
This week in unintended consequences and correlations
Unintended Consequences
The Chinese government is worried AIS data is a threat to their national security, both for military and cargo vessels. So the government will stop allowing AIS on their vessels and instead make an internal system. Some are worried this will cause more congestion at Chinese ports, as foreign vessels will not be able to time their arrivals to avoid congestion. Military vessels already don't use AIS, so the law is mostly pointless paranoia. Anyway, this is what happened on Nov 12,
Only a good guy with a gun can stop a good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun.
Climate change is a mixed bag. For example, all the little mountain rodents out West are very happy with the warmer weather. And so are the plague-carrying fleas they carry with them
Awkward Correlations
New research, based on almost 900 politically-motivated plots and murders in the US since 1994, found only one person's death in the last 25 years was linked to ‘antifa’ or anti-fascists, and the person who died was the attacker. In comparison, over that same period, 329 murders were linked to the far-right.
UK cohort study finds that people with lower cognitive ability show a higher probability of being vaccine hesitant.
A convicted Russian agent who was recently freed from US prison says her new seat in Russia's parliament is 'not a reward’.
The American Conservative magazine complains that good American fascists are being unfairly lumped in with Nazis
About all that voter fraud in America…
New study shows that people who believe in astrology tend to be more narcissistic, less intelligent and named Chloe.
This week's weird news
Dumb Criminals
Theranos’ “precise” assay results may have been technically impressive—the machines were returning the same value, time and again—but it doesn’t necessarily mean they were accurate.
Strange Headlines
State Board Drops 'Sex Offender' Term Calling It A Negative Label
That a headline like this is needed by your government is a problem.
Does this toy go to the naughty children?
A Tepid Distopia
How is it that so many US senators get paid by Russian mobsters who launder money buying distressed American factories and mills
Russia is demanding that 13 foreign and mostly U.S. technology companies be officially represented on Russian soil by the end of 2021 or face possible restrictions or outright bans.
As more consumers have become environmentally conscious, corporations’ greenwashing tactics have evolved. For instance, some energy companies in the United States have claimed that natural gas is a “clean” energy source because the power plants emit less carbon dioxide than coal plants. But natural gas plants can emit large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In 2022, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission plans to review its “Green Guides,” rules for companies that make environmental claims.
People watching
Online archive of anonymous people talking about stuff they have never told anyone.
What song cover is so famous, most people don’t know it’s a cover?
The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship
Why don’t some #@%?! people return their shopping carts?
What is the oldest photo of a US president?
How did a bowdlerized rendering of a marginal psychpathology — trauma theory — come to dominate our culture?
A collection of spiritual, religious, and mythological texts.
Post of the week
I know it’s crazy, but my wife and I have been having fertility issues (we’ve tried two rounds of IUI, haven’t gone to IVF yet).
We got vaccinated and then got pregnant three months later. Another couple we know also has been having issues trying to conceive for six years (they actually got to IVF), got vaccinated and in the same timeframe also got pregnant.
Meanwhile, we have direct studies showing that Ivermectin is genotoxic to sperm cells and significantly impairs both sperm motility and volume…the tinfoil hat side of me wonders if we stumbled across a sort of reverse idiocracy situation: Improve the fertility of people who are able to understand basic science and aren’t panicky dumbasses who buy into every bullshit conspiracy that’s out there, meanwhile decreasing the fertility of the “non-sheep who happen to be taking sheep medication” crowd. It’d be pretty genius actually.
Quotes found on-line
The moment someone says 'don't judge me', i put on my Judgin' Hat, grab my bucket of Judgement Popcorn with side of Oh No You Didn't Soda, settle into my I Can't Fuckin' Wait To Hear This Recliner Chair and get ready to hear what will surely be a stream of nonsense.
I gave out the local FBI office phone number to someone who wanted to speak to my boss.
Artificial intelligence in the enterprise is just yesterday's dumb algorithms rebranded as AI
"You look like a guy who intentionally shows up last to a gangbang."
No, Mr Bond. I expect you to come.
And on top of everything everyone else has said, there's no statues dedicated to men with sagging trousers.
This is part of the reason why cancel culture is such a problem. It's an entirely non-constructive form of protest. Branding someone with a mark of shame doesn't help anybody. It doesn't do anything to fix the problems that any of the protestors have. They want to protest so badly but instead of protesting in ways that will actually benefit society, they just protest by lashing out at an individual who has no power or influence of any kind and is only guilty of having an unpopular opinion.
I was thinking of volunteering at a hospice. One of the books I read said something like, don't judge the family for not showing up or being cold/indifferent, you don't know what your patient put them through.
As a Welshman, I’m fed up with being lumped together with English drinkers (who make up the vast majority obviously).
I like to say I have done my research I’ve just come to the opposite conclusion you wanted me to.
I decided to study Ancient Rome when COVID started, and I'm chomping at the bit for ANYONE to ask me ANYTHING about it.
The first mistake is thinking these people actually want freedom of speech and politics in the first place, they don't, in the slightest.
The song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was originally offered to Meatloaf. But his manager passed on the song. So it was sung by Bonnie Tyler.
His tailor should be tried in the Hague.
In Welsh there's "hieaeth", but that's more like "nostalgia for a time that didn't really exist.
Mark my words: in the near future, there will be QAnon churches that start popping up. They'll be Evangelical Protestant that worship Trump as a new prophet, just like the Mormon Church does with Joseph Smith.
The statue has been offensive for 100 years. The purpose of putting it up was to be offensive. It's just that it's taken over 100 years for enough Americans to figure out how offensive it is.
The "patriots" so patriotic that they're currently going through lengths to keep major parts of their nation's bloody history from being taught in schools because it makes them uncomfortable.
CS gas (the stuff used in military basic training/boot camp) is different from OC spray. It's made from a substance most people are naturally reactive to. Some people just aren't sensitive it though and can basically ignore it. There's typically one or two in every basic training group.
They see themselves as Leonidas. They have reverse body dysmorphic disorder.
My old uniforms, medals, paperwork, all of it... it's all valueless. It's a massive scam between the military and the NEX/PX to get people to buy worthless shit. It essentially falls just short of a pyramid scheme. I'm glad that you see it for what it is.
This is the UK. You cannot plead the fifth amendment, sir.
The average human penis is about 5 inches and takes about 2 tablespoons of blood to make it erect. A hamster has about 2 tablespoons of blood in its entire body. So in theory, it takes 1 hamster to make a man get an erection.
I once overheard a guy saying he needed to talk with a girl with a nose ring to find out which planet was messing his life up. I told him, "I'm not a girl and I don't have a nose ring but I'll bet that planet is Earth."
A volumetric display is NOT a hologram. Stop calling it that! A hologram is a recording of an interference pattern on a flat surface that gives the illusion of three dimensions.
Fortunately, only .06% of the US population are diagnosed celiac (gluten intolerance). 16% claims to be. I live with one of the .06 and she hates the 16% of "trenders" but it also gives her options at the store.
When the same two syllable word can be a noun or a verb, you emphasize the first syllable if you’re using the noun and the second syllable if you’re using the verb. All of us do this without noticing daily. Examples: contract, escort, suspect, present.
If you say “Rise. Up. Lights.” in a normal cadence with an American accent, it sounds like you’re saying “razor blades” in an Australian accent.
Everyone I know thinks I stay so thin and fit due to exercise and strict diet, but it’s really because I do cocaine.
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I'm rather fond of being put on a pedestal with the understanding that you have to the good manners to absolutely ravage me.
You want a crash course on Royal Navy ship design and construction from 1906-1946?
"So what made you choose this career?" "I want massive forearms"
My boyfriend has fully accepted and embraced that “the Mr. Darcy Hand Scene” is on repeat in my brain at all times and it’s set the bar for my sexual/romantic expectations.
What does anal sex and spinach have in common? If you're forced to have it as a kid you probably won't like it as an adult.
The moment someone says 'don't judge me', i put on my Judgin' Hat, grab my bucket of Judgement Popcorn with side of Oh No You Didn't Soda, settle into my I Can't Fuckin' Wait To Hear This Recliner Chair and get ready to hear what will surely be a stream of nonsense.
I gave out the local FBI office phone number to someone who wanted to speak to my boss.
Artificial intelligence in the enterprise is just yesterday's dumb algorithms rebranded as AI
"You look like a guy who intentionally shows up last to a gangbang."
No, Mr Bond. I expect you to come.
And on top of everything everyone else has said, there's no statues dedicated to men with sagging trousers.
This is part of the reason why cancel culture is such a problem. It's an entirely non-constructive form of protest. Branding someone with a mark of shame doesn't help anybody. It doesn't do anything to fix the problems that any of the protestors have. They want to protest so badly but instead of protesting in ways that will actually benefit society, they just protest by lashing out at an individual who has no power or influence of any kind and is only guilty of having an unpopular opinion.
I was thinking of volunteering at a hospice. One of the books I read said something like, don't judge the family for not showing up or being cold/indifferent, you don't know what your patient put them through.
As a Welshman, I’m fed up with being lumped together with English drinkers (who make up the vast majority obviously).
I like to say I have done my research I’ve just come to the opposite conclusion you wanted me to.
I decided to study Ancient Rome when COVID started, and I'm chomping at the bit for ANYONE to ask me ANYTHING about it.
The first mistake is thinking these people actually want freedom of speech and politics in the first place, they don't, in the slightest.
The song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was originally offered to Meatloaf. But his manager passed on the song. So it was sung by Bonnie Tyler.
His tailor should be tried in the Hague.
In Welsh there's "hieaeth", but that's more like "nostalgia for a time that didn't really exist.
Mark my words: in the near future, there will be QAnon churches that start popping up. They'll be Evangelical Protestant that worship Trump as a new prophet, just like the Mormon Church does with Joseph Smith.
The statue has been offensive for 100 years. The purpose of putting it up was to be offensive. It's just that it's taken over 100 years for enough Americans to figure out how offensive it is.
The "patriots" so patriotic that they're currently going through lengths to keep major parts of their nation's bloody history from being taught in schools because it makes them uncomfortable.
CS gas (the stuff used in military basic training/boot camp) is different from OC spray. It's made from a substance most people are naturally reactive to. Some people just aren't sensitive it though and can basically ignore it. There's typically one or two in every basic training group.
They see themselves as Leonidas. They have reverse body dysmorphic disorder.
My old uniforms, medals, paperwork, all of it... it's all valueless. It's a massive scam between the military and the NEX/PX to get people to buy worthless shit. It essentially falls just short of a pyramid scheme. I'm glad that you see it for what it is.
This is the UK. You cannot plead the fifth amendment, sir.
The average human penis is about 5 inches and takes about 2 tablespoons of blood to make it erect. A hamster has about 2 tablespoons of blood in its entire body. So in theory, it takes 1 hamster to make a man get an erection.
I once overheard a guy saying he needed to talk with a girl with a nose ring to find out which planet was messing his life up. I told him, "I'm not a girl and I don't have a nose ring but I'll bet that planet is Earth."
A volumetric display is NOT a hologram. Stop calling it that! A hologram is a recording of an interference pattern on a flat surface that gives the illusion of three dimensions.
Fortunately, only .06% of the US population are diagnosed celiac (gluten intolerance). 16% claims to be. I live with one of the .06 and she hates the 16% of "trenders" but it also gives her options at the store.
When the same two syllable word can be a noun or a verb, you emphasize the first syllable if you’re using the noun and the second syllable if you’re using the verb. All of us do this without noticing daily. Examples: contract, escort, suspect, present.
If you say “Rise. Up. Lights.” in a normal cadence with an American accent, it sounds like you’re saying “razor blades” in an Australian accent.
Everyone I know thinks I stay so thin and fit due to exercise and strict diet, but it’s really because I do cocaine.
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I'm rather fond of being put on a pedestal with the understanding that you have to the good manners to absolutely ravage me.
You want a crash course on Royal Navy ship design and construction from 1906-1946?
"So what made you choose this career?" "I want massive forearms"
My boyfriend has fully accepted and embraced that “the Mr. Darcy Hand Scene” is on repeat in my brain at all times and it’s set the bar for my sexual/romantic expectations.
What does anal sex and spinach have in common? If you're forced to have it as a kid you probably won't like it as an adult.
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