"What Happened To Me In India...": Spanish Tourist Gang-Raped In Jharkhand - "A Spanish tourist, who was allegedly gang-raped while on a bike tour with her husband in Jharkhand's Dumka district, has said she doesn't regret anything about her visit to India. The alleged assault took place on March 2 when the 28-year-old was spending the night with her partner in a makeshift tent. The couple, now back in Spain, spoke to South China Morning Post (SCMP) about the bike trip that took them through 67 countries, and their experience in India. "I think everyone in the world expects me to say 'Don't go to India', but life is far more complicated than that. What happened to me in India could have happened anywhere else. Not so long ago, a couple travelling in Belize, in Central America, the same thing happened to them," the woman told SCMP. "My advice to women is to get out of the house, travel and do so without fear. If you are going to camp, it should be in a place not too far from the road where you can easily call for help and have a signal for your phone," she added."
The feminist cope is that sexual assault is at least as high in Western countries, if not higher, so there's a lot of under-reporting
Man in Thailand goes on rampage in temple, dies after being impaled by Buddha statue - "A man in Thailand who went on a violent rampage at a temple in the Chonburi province died after being impaled by a Buddha statue. On Feb 27, the 49-year-old man, who went by the name Ek, had taken methamphetamine in the temple with his friend - a monk at the temple who goes by the name Best, reported Thai media outlet Thaiger... According to investigations, he had tried to climb and deface the largest statue in the hall but slipped and fell, landing on the sharp end of another statue below, South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday (March 13). The statue's head had pierced his heart and lungs... Best told the police that he took drugs with Ek and agreed to leave the monkhood for his misconduct."
'I was so consumed by work': DBS CEO Piyush Gupta reflects on career failures, gives tips on navigating setbacks - "Work-life balance can be a real conundrum for many - especially for those who are at the starting point of their careers. For Piyush Gupta, the chief executive of DBS Group, giving up his interests to pursue his career is one of his many regrets in life. In a TikTok video shared by DBS on Wednesday (April 19) the 63-year-old said: "I made that mistake in my twenties and thirties… I was so consumed by work and did nothing else. "It's one of my biggest regrets in life. I found it very hard to go back and pick up what I have left along the way."... Gupta advised against giving up one's interests just to focus on work. "If you like music, find some time for it," Gupta said. "Keep your interests going. These anchor you. And in these times of anxiety, you need [them] to hold on as you go ahead.""
Short film shows why a world without secrets would end up badly - "This surreal short film shows how life in a western saloon changes dramatically thanks to the malicious influence of a smart-ass voiceover. The voice reveals all the thoughts from the villagers dragging them into a true ballet of death. The film, directed by Erick Kissack, features the voice of Nick Offerman."
Officer confuses a falling acorn for a gunshot — here is why it can easily happen again - "Early in 2024, body-worn camera footage was released showing a Florida deputy mistaking a falling acorn striking his vehicle with the sound of a gunshot. He then shot several rounds at the handcuffed and unarmed prisoner sitting in the patrol car... Law enforcement officers will watch the viral video, criticize the actions of the deputy and share silly memes of acorns on their social media feeds — but they will not learn a thing. The reason is that perhaps no investigation into the “why” will be conducted. The deputy’s agency completed an investigation looking for policy violations and found them. The local prosecutor’s office completed an investigation looking for criminal violations and declined to charge the deputy. But who is investigating why this happened? Who is examining the human factors or whether training played a role? In plain terms, we may never get to know why this happened and how to avoid this happening again because no one may be asking why. The deputy himself is not incentivized to share his story with researchers, and neither is the agency because it will all be used against them in the inevitable civil lawsuit. If this had been an aviation mishap, the authorities would come in and investigate the “why.” The investigation would culminate in a report that the aviation industry could read and learn from. There would be data on things like how many hours the pilot slept in the preceding nights. The industry would then use the findings to make changes in training and procedures. Wouldn’t it be amazing if law enforcement mishaps were studied like that instead of only being analyzed for fault? Just think of how much the profession could advance! Certainly, the other investigations (administrative and criminal) needed to be conducted but it’s tragic that those are where the investigations stop. So, what are officers left to do? Many officers have watched the video and posted their criticism on social media. They believe they would never have taken such action. But without a robust analysis of what occurred, how can any of us say for certain how things like priming, post-traumatic stress, sleep deprivation or any number of other factors might impact our decision-making? Some commentors on social media posted things like, “This guy never should have been a cop! Why are they hiring people like this?” implying the deputy lacked the kind of mental acuity or stress tolerance needed to be a cop. Those same commentors may be shocked to learn the deputy in this case was a graduate of West Point, an officer in the US Army’s Special Forces and was twice deployed to tours in Afghanistan. Without knowing more, the deputy certainly seems like someone with the proper background to thrive in a high-stress environment. Some commented that the deputy’s agency had delt with several life-threatening incidents in the time preceding the shooting and suggested those incidents played a role. Unfortunately, we may never get to know. We may never have a chance to learn from this incident beyond whatever assumptions can be gleaned simply from watching the video. Certainly, the video does tell us a lot and we can and should learn from it. But, if you were captured on video in a highly controversial shooting, I bet you would say that the video doesn’t tell the whole story. The agency’s investigative report concluded that the deputy subjectively believed he had been shot but it wasn’t objectively reasonable for him to use deadly force. Wouldn’t it be good for the rest of us to know what factors caused the deputy to honestly believe he was shot, even believing his own legs were no longer functioning properly? This deputy, like every cop, is a human, with human performance capabilities, fallibilities and limitations. Because we all have brains, we must understand how those brains work and what causes our fallible brains to believe things that aren’t true. With any luck, this agency will be one of those very rare organizations that does take a look at the why and then allows the rest of us to learn from this mishap."
Users ditch Glassdoor, stunned by site adding real names without consent - "Glassdoor, where employees go to leave anonymous reviews of employers, has recently begun adding real names to user profiles without users' consent, a Glassdoor user named Monica was shocked to discover last week... Glassdoor's support team would take the real name that she provided in her support email and add it to her Glassdoor profile—despite Monica repeatedly and explicitly not consenting to Glassdoor storing her real name. Although it's common for many online users to link services at sign-up to Facebook or Gmail accounts to verify identity and streamline logins, for years, Glassdoor has notably allowed users to sign up for its service anonymously. But in 2021, Glassdoor acquired Fishbowl, a professional networking app that integrated with Glassdoor last July. This acquisition meant that every Glassdoor user was automatically signed up for a Fishbowl account. And because Fishbowl requires users to verify their identities, Glassdoor's terms of service changed to require all users to be verified. While users can remain anonymous, this change raises some potential concerns about data privacy and anonymity... "Glassdoor now requires your real name and will add it to older accounts without your consent if they learn it, and your only option is to delete your account," Monica's blog warned. "They do not care that this puts people at risk with their employers. They do not care that this seems to run counter to their own data-privacy policies." Monica soon discovered that deleting her Glassdoor account would not prevent them from storing her name, instead only deactivating her account. She decided to go through with a data erasure request, which Glassdoor estimated could take up to 30 days. In the meantime, her name remained on her profile, where it wasn't publicly available to employers but could be used to link her to job reviews if Glassdoor introduced a bug in an update or data was ever breached, she feared."
Scientists unravel mystery of the loose shoelace - "In a series of experiments involving a human runner on a treadmill and a mechanical leg designed to swing and stomp, the scientists revealed that shoelace knot failure happens in a matter of seconds, triggered by a complex interaction of forces. Oliver O’Reilly, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California Berkeley and the study’s senior author, said: “It’s unpredictable but when it happens, it’s in two or three strides and it’s catastrophic. There’s no way of coming back from it.” This article is more than 6 years old Scientists unravel mystery of the loose shoelace This article is more than 6 years old Researchers discover how laces come undone and offer alternative way to tie them that does knot involve your granny Hannah Devlin Science correspondent Wed 12 Apr 2017 00.15 BST Last modified on Mon 2 Jul 2018 14.53 BST 345 Things can start to unravel at any moment, but when failure occurs it is swift and catastrophic. This is the conclusion of a scientific investigation into what might be described as Sod’s law of shoelaces. The study focused on the mysterious phenomenon by which a shoe is neatly and securely tied one moment, and the next a flapping lace is threatening to trip you up – possibly as you are running for the bus or striding with professional purpose across your open-plan office. In a series of experiments involving a human runner on a treadmill and a mechanical leg designed to swing and stomp, the scientists revealed that shoelace knot failure happens in a matter of seconds, triggered by a complex interaction of forces. Oliver O’Reilly, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California Berkeley and the study’s senior author, said: “It’s unpredictable but when it happens, it’s in two or three strides and it’s catastrophic. There’s no way of coming back from it.” The study found that the stomping of the foot gradually loosens the knot while the whipping forces produced by the swing of the foot act like hands tugging on the ends of the laces. As the tension in the knot eases and the free ends start to slide, a runaway effect takes hold and the knot suddenly unravels. The findings also revealed what knot experts, such as sailors and surgeons, have long suggested: that the granny knot many of us use to tie our laces comes undone far quicker than an alternative method that is no more complex... The scientist enlisted a pair of PhD students and initial tests revealed that sitting on a chair and swinging your leg or stamping your foot does not generally cause a knot to come undone. It appeared to be a combination of both motions that conspired to unravel laces. Next, the scientists captured slow-motion video of a runner on a treadmill. They found that the foot strikes the ground at seven times the force of gravity and as the fabric of the shoe squashes down on impact, extra lace is freed at the top of the shoe, causing the knot to loosen slightly with each stride. Meanwhile, the swinging leg causes the lace’s free ends to whip back and forth tugging them outwards. As the knot loosens, the friction holding the knot tight decreases, and as the free ends lengthen, the whipping force goes up, leading to an avalanche effect."
Meme - "Two people I'm yet to see in the same room *Ben Shapiro* *Dylan Mulvaney*"
Nigerian Islamic police in Kano arrest non-fasting Muslims during Ramadan - "He added that the search operations would continue but said that non-Muslims were exempt. "We don't arrest non-Muslims because this doesn't concern them and the only time they could be guilty of a crime is when we find out they cook food to sell to Muslims that are supposed to be fasting." Regarding those who were arrested he said that they were freed after promising to start fasting from now on and "for some of them we had to see their relatives or guardians in order to have family monitor them". Just over two decades ago, Sharia was introduced to work alongside secular law in 12 of Nigeria's northern states that all have a majority Muslim population."
Meme - Daily Beagle: "Spider-Man kills bird!"
Peter Parker: "I SURVIVED ANOTHER NEWSPAPER. FINALLY, I CAN RELAX WITH MY MANY GIRLFRIEND."
*Peter in Diner with Betty Brant, Cindy Moon/Silk, Gwen Stacey, Mary Jane, Felicia Hardy/Black Cat, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, with all of them having root beer floats*
"PARKER!"
Meme - Garett Jones @GarettJones: "Name other scholars beside Oppenheimer who spent their later years running away from their early work"
kira @kirawontmiss: "the creator of the flappy bird game"
Dong Nguyen: "I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I I cannot take this anymore."
another fine mess I've gotten myself into - "Anti-revenge narrative this, anti-revenge narrative that, I personally think that Inigo Montoya had the right idea when he stabbed Count Rugen in the gut and said "I want my father back, you son of a bitch""
"A lot of revenge arcs end with the hero saying “there’s nothing you can do to bring my loved one back, so me seeking revenge is pointless.” The Princess Bride’s revenge arc ends with Inigo Montoya saying “there’s nothing you can do to bring my loved one back, so there’s nothing that can save you.”"
We can't even beat S'pore, I quit: Chinese football team captain after 2-2 World Cup qualifiers match - "While Singaporeans cheered on the Lions' 2-2 draw against China during the World Cup 2026 qualifiers on Mar. 21, 2024 at the National Stadium, the mood from the other side of the pitch was not as celebratory. In particular, the Chinese football team's captain, Zhang Linpeng, has decided to quit the national team... "We couldn't even defeat the Singapore team. I think it's unacceptable, and I find it humiliating." While Singaporeans praised the Lions' performance, Chinese online commenters found the Chinese team "disappointing"."
Meme - "Dragon's Dogma 2 Director Dislikes Fast Travel: "All You Have To Do ls Make Travel Fun"
"Downloadable Content. This content requires the base game Dragon's Dogma 2 on Steam in order to play. Buy Dragon's Dogma 2: Portcrystal - Warp Location Marker. $2.99"
Blaine Smith on X - "Twitter Bullshit: You have to pay real money to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2
Reality: Oxcarts take you to every major city, are unlocked automatically at the start of the game, and cost an average 200g. Fast Travel crystals can be purchased in-game for 10,000g and also found on enemies/as rewards.
You can be attacked while riding an Oxcart but otherwise, you can skip the entire journey and traverse almost the entire map in 60 seconds."
Tony D on X - "I made the point that it should not be a paid microtransaction if it can easily be obtainable in game. Practices like this should NOT be acceptable or dismissed because other companies may adopt the same philosophy. THAT’S THE ISSUE."
Meme - TheQuartering @TheQuartering: "You have to pay $2 every time you want to make a new character or edit your character in Dragon's Dogma 2 It's a SINGLE player game!! A $70 game also you have to PAY for fast travel....... Wanted to try this one, but there no way"
Oldschool_Navy on X - "My Kid: Can I keep the night light on?
Me: And provide the monsters with a beacon to your location? Use your head, sweetie."
Meme - "It didn't happen"
"It's going to happen again"
"They deserved it"
*Gigachad at intersection of all 3*
My guess is that this is alt-right anti-Semitism about the Holocaust
Maryland 20-Year-Old Dies Never Having Aged - "Brooke Greenberg, who baffled scientists because she never aged, has died at the age of 20, never having developed beyond the physical size of an infant or the mental capacity of a 2-year-old. The daughter of Howard and Melanie Greenberg from Reisterstown, Md., Brooke is one of about a dozen children in the world who have what some call syndrome X -- a kind of Benjamin Button disorder that prevents them from aging... only her hair and fingernails grew. In her first six years, Brooke went through a series of medical emergencies from which she recovered, often without explanation. She survived surgery for seven perforated stomach ulcers. She had a brain seizure followed by what was diagnosed as a stroke that, weeks later, had left no apparent damage. At 4, she fell into a lethargy that caused her to sleep for 14 days. Then, doctors diagnosed a brain tumor, and the Greenbergs bought a casket for Brooke... Not only do the people he's studying have a growth rate of one-fifth the speed of others, but they live with a variety of other medical problems, including deafness, the inability to walk, eat or even speak."
From 2013
15 "Italian" foods that don't exist in Italy - "Combinations of chicken and pesto, chicken and pasta, or chicken and pizza... At All’antico Vinaio in Florence, a famous sandwich shop, there is even a sign near the door that says “no pesto,” probably because of too many American tourists coming to Italy and trying to recreate their favorite sandwich from Panera... Seu Pizza Illuminati had a pizza topped with chicken and peppers on their Summer 2020 menu, so you may find that modern restaurants and pizzerias play with the aforementioned combos, but they’re still not super common. In other exceptions to the rules, my sweetheart was once in Genoa and texted me to tell me that he was at a place that served chicken and pesto (him texting me about food is my version of a love note) so it does exist, it’s just rare.
Bonus nope: Chicken Parmesan... What you will find: parmigiana di melanzane Fear not, because you can get parmigiana di melanzane, or simply parmigiana (eggplant parmesan). And you should get it, because yum.
Fettuccine Alfredo (well, sort of)... there are two restaurants in Rome that claim to have invented this dish – Il Vero Alfredo and Alfredo alla Scrofa. They’re close together in the area near the Spanish Steps. The original version of fettuccine alfredo has just two ingredients: butter and parmigiano. No cream, no chicken, no funny business. The interesting part is that both restaurants claim the same origin story for the dish, stating that it was created to nourish a pregnant or postpartum female family member, and then became famous when two famous American actors, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, tasted the dish while honeymooning in Rome... Anyway, if you’re eating at any restaurant besides these two in Rome and want something creamy and delicious, try a carbonara, or a cacio e pepe. Just don’t ask for chicken in either of them. Play it safe and don’t talk about chicken at all, guys.
Hawaiian pizza. The thought of pineapple on pizza is a thing that traumatizes many, many Italians... If you’re craving a salty-sweet/meat-fruit combo, get prosciutto e melone (prosciutto with cantaloupe), which is commonly on menus in the warm weather.
Note: Since originally writing this post, I have encountered pineapple on pizza in Rome at an aperitivo at a fancy hotel, and it was disgusting.
Pepperoni pizza. Ok, this is a tricky one, because pepperoni pizza sort of exists, but if you order a “pepperoni pizza” you’re going to get something that surprises you. Peperoni in Italian are bell peppers (or capsicum, for my friends Down Under), not pepperoni as in spicy little circles of processed meat. What you will find: pizza alla diavola. If you want a pepperoni pizza, you should order una pizza alla diavola, or, a pizza of the devil, (spicy food here is usually “of the devil,” or sometimes arrabbiata, “angry”) which comes with salame piccante on it (spicy salami).
Bonus note: Italian pizza. While on the topic of pizza, it’s important to point out that here, it usually doesn’t have a whole mess of toppings, and it’s not really customary to make adjustments...
Oil and vinegar for dipping bread before dinner...You should resist the urge to fill up on bread, anyway. Save it for the end of your meal so you can “fare la scarpetta,” aka use the bread to swipe up all the leftover sauce from your pasta.
Cappuccino after a meal... My reader kindly pointed out that cappuccino or caffè latte in the afternoon is something that people might have as a merenda, or snack. So, it’s not the time of day that matters, it’s the proximity to meal time. I believe it has to do with the amount of milk in a cappuccino or caffè latte on a full stomach that people find off-putting. It’s true – I can’t imagine having a cappuccino after eating a carbonara...
Garlic bread. I know, I know. Garlic bread is very good, but it is not very Italian.
What you will find: bruschetta or crostini all’aglio. Again, fear not, because you can get a bruschetta with aglio (garlic), and you’ll probably never want to eat garlic bread again, because the bruschetta will be delicious!... A reader also told me that in his home town of Mirandola in Emilia, you can get stria con aglio, which is, as he said “a thin pizza-like bread topped with chopped garlic."...
On a recent trip to Abruzzo, I nearly cried when I saw Chitarrine alla Teramana on the menu, which is basically spaghetti and meatballs... A reader also informed me that similar dishes are also made in the south, but they’re usually family recipes made by older generations at home rather than being served at restaurants. You may also find lasagne with mini-meatballs in the south, too. Meatballs are common on menus in many cities, just not with pasta. In Veneto, they’re often served as a “cicheto,” which is a little snack one has with one’s evening spritz during aperitivo...
Mozzarella sticks with tomato sauce... What you will find: mozzarelline. Mozzarelline are little fried balls of mozzarella that are served as fritti, or fried appetizers, at pizzerias all over Italy. I’ve never had them served with any kind of sauce, but that doesn’t mean that some places don’t serve them that way."
The correlation between the decline of Italian food and the country's economy - "food in Italy has become mediocre, exactly like the sloppy lasagne I tasted when I first arrived in the UK. With a very few exceptions made of highly rated, and I am not talking about Tripadvisor’s ratings, and expensive restaurants or small, hidden eating places, difficult to find, often located in uninhabited villages, run by husband and wife where there is barely a menu, offering one and only one option, but where the food is still great, it has become very difficult to find good places to eat. Italy has an advantage, it has the ingredients. Italian soil is fertile and the sun does the rest, and every chef will agree with me when I say that when the ingredients are fresh and in season, the food has plenty of flavour. In the UK unfortunately we do not have the same luck; most of the ingredients are imported. However, despite the availability of the ingredients, the advantage, food in Italy has become very average. Driving through an Italian village is no different than driving through a UK village or city, plenty of boards inviting diners in with unbelievable low prices, eating out is now cheaper than buying the ingredients. Whether touristic resorts or small villages, there is no difference, and Italians have got used to this, their palate has changed and I believe, for the worse. Italian supermarkets are no different, with people queuing to buy extra virgin Italian oil costing a couple of euros made with olives from Greece or Morocco or Eastern Europe when Italian olive growers are struggling to sell theirs. Italian cities have been flooded with hard discounters forcing small, independent, deli shops out of business. When at university in Rome, each street had a small deli, “l’alimentare”, where Italians would go to get a panino for lunch: fresh bread and freshly sliced ham. Only to get there, the aromas on the street when approaching the deli and inside the shop, was a joy, almost better than sex, not the pre packed, tasteless, cold flavourless tuna sandwich that has now taken its place. My friend Bruno, from a village near mine in Abruzzo, when he first came to England and opened its restaurant put a big sign outside saying “orgasmic food here”, and he kept repeating it to all diners visiting its restaurant in his English with a strong Abruzzo’s accent. Great food is good for the mind as well as the body and science confirms it. These changes in eating habits have affected not just restaurants, but the whole chain, from top to bottom, from producers that have been forced to look for cheaper ingredients, ingredients that had to be imported, to employment. Funnily enough, the Italian trade body, has recently launched an initiative against what they call “Italian sounding names” given to products made all over the world other than Italy with names that sound exactly like the original and labels with images of the Coliseum or the Pisa’s lining tower, wrongly thinking that by removing the “copies”, the originals will fly off the shelves. Until poor quality products are allowed to be made by Italian companies, sales will not improve. Consumers choose with their palate and if the taste is the same, why paying more, only because it says “made in Italy”? I believe there is a strong correlation between the nation’s economy, and I would add the quality of the politicians running the country, and the decline of Italian food, in Italy and abroad. Not only, the dramatic economic situation the country has been living for the last forty years has reduced the income available for Italians to spend in food and wine, but it also has profoundly affected their mental and physical health. Italians in the last twenty years have been constantly fighting for survival, fighting to meet ends. Italians were famous for the “bella vita” or the “joy de vivre” as the French calls it; this is now gone, the only evidence left of that way of living is the movie “La dolce vita” from the great Federico Fellini."
Meme - "In questa osteria non serviamo:
Spaghetti con le polpette
Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine alla bolognese
Lasagna
Cappuccino
In this restaurant we don't serve
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Fettuccine Alfredo Style
Fettuccine Bolognese style
Lasagna
and
Cappuccino."
