Meme - "Jesus that Young Sheldon ending was brutal *dead Sheldon, shot in torso*"
Blinged-Out Mobile Not the First Telephone Controversy at the Forbidden City - "In 1921, the then 15-year-old former emperor Puyi insisted his staff install a phone for his personal use. Puyi first became fascinated with phones after he learned about them from his tutor, Reginald Johnston. Johnston would later have reason to regret this role in spurring the young monarch’s enthusiasm for telephony. The emperor’s request for a phone of his own set off a frenzy of angry bewilderment from his tutors at court, who reminded him that “There is nothing in the ancestral regulations to provide for this.” Short form: If your ancestors didn’t use a phone, why do you need one? Their point would have been better perhaps if they hadn't been standing in a hall festooned with chiming European clocks, electric lights, and a grand piano. When the court couldn't dissuade Puyi, they rolled out their big gun: Puyi’s father. He reminded his son that outsiders calling into the palace’s inner sanctum might offend imperial dignity and upset the Celestial Countenance. Puyi was unmoved. His father already had a phone. Besides, as Puyi wrote in his autobiography, the real threat wasn’t to his Celestial Countenance. It was the fear of an emperor confined to the palace ever since he arrived as a young child finally getting in contact with the world beyond the palace walls. But at first, Puyi used his phone the same way most 15-year-olds would: prank calls... Among Puyi’s other favorite stunts was to dial up famous restaurants, order an extravagant meal, and send it to a random address... His most frequent victim was his tutor Reginald Johnston, the original inspiration for the installation of the telephone. Whenever Puyi was lonely, Johnston was a phone call away. Have a question about English grammar? Ring Johnston. Have a question about European culture? Ring Johnston. Want to chat about the imperfectly folded dumpling you just ate? Ring Johnston. Eventually, Puyi would take his phone privleges more seriously. A year after getting his phone, he used it to conspire with younger brother Pujie and the Dutch ambassador to try and move many of the most valuable treasures to a secret location in Tianjin as part of a plan to escape China. Unfortunately, his own servants ratted him out and the Dutch, fearing an international incident, backed out at the last minute. In 1924, when the warlord Feng Yuxiang captured the city of Beijing and evicted Puyi and his family from the Forbidden City, the first thing Feng’s troops did was to cut the phone lines. Cut off from the world and unable even to contact Reginald Johnston for advice, Puyi agreed to vacate the only home he had ever really known on just three hours notice."
Sconcing - Wikipedia - "Sconcing is a tradition at Oxford University of demanding that a person drink a tankard of ale or some other alcoholic beverage as a penalty for some breach of etiquette. Originally the penalty would have been a simple monetary fine imposed for a more serious breach of discipline, and the word is known to have been used in this sense as early as 1617. Minor offences for which a sconce might have been imposed included talking at dinner about women, religion, politics or one's work, referring to the portraits hung in the college hall, or making an error in the pronunciation of the Latin Grace."
Meme - "I like my women how I like my coffee
Vietnamese
Like you"
"i'm filipino"
No Longer Singapore's Hottest Blogger, Dawn Yang Finally Tries Her Hand at Honesty - "“Have you ever been completely open about plastic surgery online?” “Completely open? No, I don’t think I’ve actually come out and said anything ‘officially’,” she muses. “Back then when the drama started, plastic surgery wasn’t as mainstream or common as it is now. At that time, it was just a personal choice and I didn’t feel that it was something that needed to be broadcasted. I felt that people would think it’s crazy, and there’d be backlash.” Dawn was hyper aware of young girls who looked up to her, and didn’t want them to feel that they too had to get plastic surgery in order to emulate her. So she chose not to address the issue... she seems to be a completely normal Christian girl. It just so happens that she’s also gotten plastic surgery. This is a fact that inadvertently complicates how we understand ‘Dawn Yang the influencer’. It reveals our tendency to insist women fit neatly into clear definitions of what it means to be feminine, as well as our needless cruelty towards female public figures who make their own choices about their bodies without feeling obliged to inform the public. "
"People also accuse me of having plastic surgery" doesn't mean anything
Prince Harry drops libel case against Daily Mail after damaging pretrial ruling - "Prince Harry dropped his libel lawsuit Friday against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid following a ruling in which a judge cast doubt on his case as it was headed to trial. Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex notified the High Court in London that he would not continue the suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd. No reason was given, but it came the day he was due to hand over documents in the case and after a punishing ruling last month in which a judge ordered Harry to pay the publisher nearly 50,000 pounds (more than $60,000) in legal fees after he failed to achieve victory without going to trial... The case involved a Mail on Sunday article that said Harry tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the U.K. after walking away from his role as a working member of the royal family... In March, Harry sought summary judgment — to win the case without going to trial — and tried to knock out the Mail’s defense but a judge didn’t buy it. Justice Matthew Nicklin ruled Dec. 8 that the publisher had a “real prospect” of showing statements issued on Harry’s behalf were misleading and that the February 2022 article reflected an “honest opinion” and wasn’t libelous. “The defendant may well submit that this was a masterclass in the art of ‘spinning,’” Nicklin wrote, in refusing to strike the honest opinion defense. Harry, 39, the estranged younger son of King Charles III, has broken ranks with the royal family in his willingness to go to court and it has become the main forum for his battles with the British press."
Yasmine Mohammed 🦋 ياسمين محمد on X - "A heartbreaking scene. @piersmorgan is interviewing @RichardDawkins, one of the most influential minds alive today, and he shuts down. He won’t even comment on Salman Rushdie. This is where terrorism leads, as Piers points out. This is how it works."
Richard Dawkins, in his latest interview with Piers Morgan, does not want to touch Islam with a 10-foot pole. No comment on Shamima Begum, ISIS or Salman Rushdie. Says only that Muslims are the biggest victims of Islam. Sad! : r/exmuslim
Damn Islamophobia!
Meme - "Four color pen be like
Blue - Assingnments and Exams
Red - Correction
Black - When you run out of blue ink in the middle of a test
Green - Who tf uses green ink?"
Reps. Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush mix up Memorial Day with Veterans Day in since-deleted posts on X - "Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., appeared to mix up Memorial Day with Veterans Day in since-deleted posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Monday morning, the two "Squad" members posted similar messages to X for the federal holiday dedicated to honoring and mourning U.S. military personnel who died in service to their country. "On Memorial Day, we honor the heroic men and women who served our country," Omar wrote, according to multiple screenshots before the post was taken down. "We owe them more than our gratitude – they have more than earned access to quality mental health services, job opportunities, housing assistance, and the benefits they were promised." Bush’s post read similarly, "This Memorial Day and every day, we honor our veterans in St. Louis. We must invest in universal healthcare, affordable housing, comprehensive mental health services, and educational and economic opportunities for our veterans as we work to build a world free of war and violence." Social media users were quick to point out that the congresswomen’s messages seemed to indicate they were mixing up the meaning of the holiday with Veterans Day, another federal holiday observed annually on November 11, which honors living military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. "Ilhan Omar misunderstanding Memorial Day is incredibly on brand," posted John Hasson of Townhall. "Ilhan Omar thinks Memorial Day is about celebrating people who are alive. Beyond parody," OutKick's David Hookstead wrote, before following up that the post had been deleted, "But screenshots are forever.""
Cloudflare took down our website after trying to force us to pay 120k$ within 24h
Jack Ellis on X - "And this is why Cloudflare has been banned from being used at our company. Our experience wasn’t an isolated incident. Told you."
Collin Rugg on X - "JUST IN: Footage released shows police psychologically torturing a man into giving them a false confession that he killed his father. These guys are thugs. Fontana, California police interrogated Thomas Perez Jr. for 17 hours and even threatened to kill his dog as they accused him of killing his dad. The police falsely claimed that his father was dead and they had his body which was at the morgue with a toe tag. Police tried convincing Perez that his mind was playing tricks on him and continuously lied to him so he would give them a false confession. After hours of torture and denying that he killed his dad, Perez eventually "confessed." Police were filmed laughing at him as he beat himself up over the false accusations. He then tried hanging himself in the interrogation room. Perez's father eventually turned up alive. He had walked to the train station in Fontana and traveled to Los Angeles County to visit a relative after getting into an argument with his son. He later went to the airport to fly to Oakland to visit his daughter before police found him. Perez was awarded about $900,000 for the torture he suffered."
Damaskinos of Athens - Wikipedia - "Damaskinos went on to publish the letter, even though the local Schutzstaffel (SS) commander, Jürgen Stroop, threatened to execute him by firing squad. Damaskinos's famous response to him was: According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions!"
Meme - Catherynne Valente: "In like 15 years, somewhere in crowded, fashion-savvy nightclub, a DJ is gonna drop Baby Shark and the place is gonna EXPLODE."
ST Engineering - Wing-in-Ground Craft - "The AirFish family of Wing-in-Ground (WIG) craft redefines maritime transport by enabling safe, sustainable and swift coastal travel and logistics. Utilising aerodynamic forces and air pressure generated between itself and a water surface, AirFish WIG craft are able to fly at thrice the speed of existing marine craft. This brings about significant reduction in time savings and convenience for maritime public transport, luxury travel, delivery of parapublic services as well as potential military applications. The AirFish 8, which seats 10 passengers including crew, is slated for certification and entry into market by 2025."
Meme - "can i get the bonjour burger?"
"im sorry sir we don't have anything called the bonjour burger. can you be more specific?"
"Mainz Burgers
Hamburguesas
Bonjour Nigga. Hamburguesa de blend de.."
Meme - "The assignment was, "Come as your favorite Disney character." *1 Anna, 4 Elsas, 1 Darth Vader*"
Meme - "Never give up *boy in bed with dolls*
Fight for your dreams *Man in bed with women, giving thumbs up*"
Wandervogel on X - "You guys think "washing they chicken" is bad wait till you go down the rabbit hole of blacks eating corn starch. There's an entire cottage industry on Etsy dedicated to selling "dat skrong" and "chunky" in every flavor you could imagine"
Meme - "Mercedes-Benz giving birth. Nature so beautiful. *toy car peeking out of boot of real car*"
Meme - Richard McElreath 🦔 @rlmcelreath: "These "how are Sardinians living so long" takes are still popping up. My favorite hypothesis: They lie about (or don't know) how old they are. Few of the 100+ folks have birth cerificates. Same phenomenon in elsewhere: offical birth certs appear -> supercents decline."
"Figure 2. Number and per capita rate of attaining supercentenarian status across US states, relative to the introduction of complete-area birth registration. Despite the combined effects of rapid population growth and increasing life expectancy during this period the total number of US supercentenarians (a) falls dramatically after birth certificates achieve state-wide coverage (vertical blue line). This trend remains after adjusting for total population size c.1900 (b) within each state."
Michael Morelli @morellifit: "The #1 spot in the entire world where people live to 100 years old: Sardinia, Italy. I wanted to find out what Sardinia are doing that other places aren't."
Thread by @Kairo_Anatomika on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "So...Mammals normally store fat under the skin in an even layer, but camels evolved to pile fat in one spot, so the rest of their bodies can stay cool in the desert. Why don't other desert animals do this? Well, they do.... but for some reason, we never talk about them..... 🧵🧵 These guys are called Fat-tailed sheep. They're native to the Middle East and North Africa. Like camels, they too store fat in one place on their body, keeping the rest of their bodies cool. Fat-Tails are the oldest breeds of sheep. Their images are found in the ruins of the oldest civilizations, scratched into clay tablets before the first languages formed. They’re in the old testament of the bible. This is an ancient sumerican tablet. The circle with cross means sheep,it's got an added tail. These were THE OG sheep. Mammals store fat in two places. Beneath the skin, and inside the body cavity. While both store energy, these two types of fat are not the same. Fat inside the body protects and cushions organs like bubble wrap. Pads of fat within the abdomen prevent your organs from herniating when you're lifting heavy objects. This is why you only see fat dudes at strongman competitions, but never Mr. Universe-looking lean body bulider dudes. Anyone that's tried to lose weight knows how difficult it is to lose abdominal fat. Since fat inside the body has protective functions, it's tougher to lose. The inside of the body is also way warmer than the outside, so internal fat has a higher melting point. Fat underneath the skin is different. It's softer, and has a much lower melting point which makes it ideal for all sorts of dishes. Having all the fat on the tail also made it easier to harvest. Most sheep today have their tails docked, because poop gets caked to their tail wool and attracts flies. Since these old-school desert sheep weren't bred for wool, there was no limit to how big their tails could become. Some had tails so large they needed little tail carts. These guys were so important to the ancient world that they were the primary sheep type back then. And even today a quarter of the world’s sheep are these guys. There's a bunch of different varieties with different looking tails. Which gets me to my point. Why IS BIBLICAL ART ALWAYS SO INACCURATE? Jesus was a Middle Eastern man. Fat-tailed sheep are the predominant sheep breed of the Ancient Middle East, a desert breed shaped by desert people that shared their world. But when you see sheep in religious art, they're never Fat-tail sheep. Instead they're always weak-ass European sheep. Entire wars have been waged over interpretations of the bible. Does no one care about sheep accuracy? I mean, how could you exclude these guys? You always see pictures of Jesus holding his lambs or brushing his lambs. I've never once seen any depiction of him, using his carpentry skills to craft little tail carts for his lambs. Sheep depicted in religious art is never the right type of sheep that would have been endemic to the ancient Middle East and it's such a GODDAMN SHAME. Livestock, Agriculture and Food is an integral part of any culture and we ALL need to be pushing for more realistic sheep in religious art. #FATTAILSFORJESUS"
Human Nature and Social Value - "Authenticity means being the same with everyone, right? But it turns out, this is not the norm for most societies. In his recent book, The WEIRDEST People in the World, the Harvard scientist Joseph Henrich presents research showing that people who are from WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democracies) countries believe that people should be the same with everyone. They expect personalities and dispositions to be consistent across social interactions. In contrast, non-WEIRD people believe it is perfectly appropriate to adjust one’s behavior and demeanor depending on the situation and the person with whom they are interacting. Henrich writes, “Americans sometimes see behavioral flexibility as ‘two-faced’ or ‘hypocritical,’ many other populations see personal adjustments to differing relationships as reflecting wisdom, maturity, and social adeptness.” In fact, research suggests that WEIRD people view individuals who are the same in every interaction as more socially intelligent. On the other hand, non-WEIRD people view individuals who are the same in every interaction as less socially intelligent... I read a paper that discusses the idea of “association value” at length... Why would poor people object to others in their community obtaining financial success? The paper I read suggests that one answer is “association value.” Association value refers to the abstract value that people have for each other. In short, it asks, “how valuable of a friend would this person be for me (and vice versa)?” Association value has two components. The first part is how much value someone could add to your life... The second component of association value is more complicated: how willing someone is to add value to your life... This brings us to the zero-sum nature of friendship. We have a limited amount of time and resources. If someone is your friend, it means they value you more than they value others. They would help you over someone else. People want the best possible social contacts they can get. What makes a good friend is their ability and willingness to invest their limited time and resources in you over others. But their readiness to do so also depends on your association value: how willing and able you are to add value to their lives. If you can’t or won’t aid them, it is likely they will invest their own value into someone else who will. Which explains why some people undermine their peers who strive to improve themselves. By increasing association value through various forms of self-improvement, people make themselves a more appealing person to others. This includes existing friends, but also higher-value individuals who might not have been willing to invest prior to the self-improvement. Put differently, as your association value rises, unless the value of your existing friends also rises, you might increase your chances of finding better friends than them. If your social prospects increase, you might begin to neglect existing contacts in favor of newer friendships."
Chimei Museum - Wikipedia - "The Chimei Museum (Chinese: 奇美博物館; pinyin: Qíměi Bówùguǎn; Wade–Giles: Chʻi²-mei³ Po²-wu⁴-kuan³) is a private museum established in 1992 by Shi Wen-long of Chi Mei Corporation in Rende District, Tainan, Taiwan. The museum's collection is divided into five categories: Fine arts (including painting, sculpture, decorative arts and period furniture); Musical instruments; Natural history and fossils; Arms and armor; Antiquities and artifacts. The museum is known for housing the world's largest violin collection and for its significant collections of ancient weapons and sculptures. Forbes magazine, in its February 1996 article on private collectors in Asia, called the Chimei Museum "one of the world's most surprising art collections.""
Taiwan and Japan seem to be the only exceptions to the parochialism of Asian museum
Minister said there were ‘no plans’ for national service policy three days ago - "A Tory minister rejected the prospect of national service just two days before Rishi Sunak announced his party would introduce it for teenagers if they win the general election. Responding to a written parliamentary question, defence minister Andrew Murrison said there were “no plans” to introduce the controversial policy. The MP, who represents South West Wiltshire, added that it could damage morale if “potentially unwilling” recruits were forced to serve alongside armed forces personnel."
Canada spent $12M on deer cull, but hunters say they'd do it for free - "Employing foreign sharpshooters in helicopters to cull deer inhabiting a small coastal B.C. island could cost taxpayers over $12 million, suggest newly released government documents... Parks Canada has earmarked $12 million to fund a multi-phase “Fur to Forest” program, which employs non-Canadian helicopter-mounted sharpshooters to eradicate an invasive herd of European fallow deer from Sidney Island — a nine-square-kilometre tract of land off the coast of Vancouver Island. That’s nearly double the $6 million the program was initially forecast to cost. “It’s appalling for Parks Canada to be blowing $12 million on a project that local hunters have been doing for a decade for free,” the federation’s Carson Binda told reporters in Victoria recently. The program sparked controversy upon its launch in December, particularly in light of the fact local efforts by private hunters have kept the animals’ numbers in check. Locals told reporters last year those efforts resulted in the removal of nearly 2,000 deer, and at no cost to taxpayers. A total of 84 deer were killed during last year’s cull between Dec. 1 and 11. As well, Parks Canada confirmed a little under a quarter of the culled animals weren’t actually invasive deer, but species native to Sidney Island... According to cost breakdowns provided in the documents, deer eradication amounted to a little more than $4 million of the $12 million total, including $137,407 to facilitate “firearms registration for international workers,” as the hunters brought in to cull the deer were from the United States and New Zealand — plus $35,000 for their work permits. The eradication costs also include $67,680 for helicopters, and $329,760 for the scent-tracking dogs earmarked for phase two of the cull, expected to begin this fall. A total of $800,000 was set aside to facilitate Indigenous participation in the program, which includes payments to three area First Nations, as well as $108,800 for meat harvesting, and $15,250 each for cultural and spiritual workers to train crews. Other costs include $2.3 million for salaries for Parks Canada staff, $1.4 million for analysis and studies and $3.3 million in miscellaneous costs... Rather than bringing in foreign sharpshooters, Carpenter said, the government could have used the cull as a means to generate local income for Canadian hunters. “It’s a real slap in the face to Canadian hunters, and there’s millions of us in this country who would’ve been more than happy to spend our own money to go in there and harvest some of the meat ourselves,” he said. “To turn around and invite foreigners into the country because they felt we were incapable of doing it ourselves, it’s insulting to say the least.” He also criticized the use of helicopters in the hunt, saying it definitely contributed to the high numbers of local deer killed. “A controlled hunt on the ground over a period of a few months would have eliminated that problem,” he said. “On the ground, there’s no problem distinguishing the difference between native and non-native species.”"
Scientists develop a device that can detect when someone is sarcastic - "A team from the University of Groningen have created an algorithm that analyses someone's speech to work out if they are using irony. It works by examining the pitch, talking rate and energy in speech, and then transcribing the speech into text for it to be analysed further for language cues."
Meme - Chise Hatori's Love: "Niggas be like "far right propaganda" and it's just this: 'Alto: Let's live, together with our baby, focused on the future.'"
@MahimikoUmbral: "It legitimately is propaganda and everybody's aware, it's just that natalism and subjugation of women to the familial unit, a fascist political ideal, is so naturalized in patriarchy that the reactionaries have plausible deniability in pretending it's simply aching for happiness. "
Pro-natalism is "far right propaganda" to the left
Paul Geidel - Wikipedia - "Geidel was granted parole in August 1974, but the then-80-year-old inmate did not want to leave. Having lived in prison for 63 years—his entire adult life—and having no family, he believed he would not make it on the outside, having become institutionalized. He chose to remain in prison for almost six more years."
Meme - "My boyfriend died last year so I'm just trying to get back in the dating scene really:)"
"Damn thats sad. On our first date we should use a ouija board to get his permission to smash"
"What the fuck is wrong with you"
Meme - Reuters @Reuters: "Scientists in New Mexico are giving dead birds a new life with an unconventional approach to wildlife research - converting them into drones"
Birds Aren't Real @birdsarentreal: "and they called us conspiracy theorists"
Meme - Cat: "4 years ago I lived in a bush and hunted for my meals. Now I have 2 passive incomes, my own house, personal chef. Follow me for financial advice."
How to sound smart in your TEDx Talk | Will Stephen | TEDxNewYork - YouTube
Meme - UK to US: "LOOK, SIMBA. EVERYTHING THE LIGHT TOUCHES, SPEAK ENGLISH"
US: "BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT SHADOWY PLACE?"
UK: "THAT'S WHERE THE AUSSIES LIVE. YOU MUST NEVER GO THERE, SIMBA"
AUSTRALIA: "CORIANDER. G'day. ARVO. True Blue. wha? CAPSICUM. CHOCCY. CHOOK. Mate. Crikey! Fair dinkum"