Meme - "When your kids ask what the tooth fairy look like show them this *tooth monster*"
"Thanks, I hate the tooth fairy"
The Russian Mafia Kidnapped the Bananas in Pyjamas and Held Them for $100,000 Ransom - "when the Australian children’s television series Bananas in Pyjamas went to Moscow for a photo opportunity with the intention of courting a new international audience, the worst-case scenario they could have imagined would have to have been a run-in with the Russian mob. Unfortunately, during a recent interview with News.com.au, Kenneth Radley, who played one half of the potassium-filled pair of titular characters in Bananas in Pyjamas, revealed that, not only was the show’s Russian trip derailed by organized criminals, but the mafia even stole the expensive banana suits and attempted to hold them for ransom for $100,000 Australian dollars. Sadly for the original Bananas and their expensive Pyjamas, instead of paying the outrageous sum, the show’s marketing head simply split. “Grahame Grassby was the head of marketing and franchising … and Grahame went all over the world with some banana suits to get photo opportunities at places like London Tower and the White House,” explained Radley, who played anthropomorphized banana B1 for over a decade on Bananas in Pyjamas. “He took the suits to Moscow … and the suits were stolen, and there was a ransom note given to Grassby for $100,000 Australian dollars for the return of the suits.”... “Grahame got in touch with ABC Sydney and said, ‘This has happened, they want $100,000, what will we do?’” Radley recalled. “And the head of the ABC said, ‘Well, we’re not gonna give them $100,000. How much do they cost to replace?’ And Graham said, ‘They’re $20,000 to make.’”"
Mr Chipping on X - "Oh, goodie! This BBC article almost exclusively uses the term "revert" to Islam, for people *converting*. It is clearly not a neutral term, being predicated on Islam being the natural state of all humans."
It was only a matter of time, after "the holy month of Ramadan"
Luckily they're not imposing Christian theology on everyone, because that (and only that) would be Theocracy
This won't stop that the BBC is Islamophobic
Solo women traveling, an unstoppable trend - "Solo female travel has increased by 20% in the last two years. Women choose to travel alone in greater proportion than men, according to a recent study... Older women travel alone more than young women. "Those aged 65 or older are five times more likely to travel alone than those aged 35 to 44." Some of the preferred destinations for women traveling alone include Peru, Thailand, and Vietnam, followed by Tanzania, Uzbekistan, and Costa Rica, according to Evaneos."
'I traveled for an entire year for free — and saved $15K' - "For over a year, Learmonth looked after people's pets in exchange for staying in their homes for free, for anywhere between six days and three months. The traveler has looked after dogs, cats, chickens and cows in Brisbane and the Gold Coast Hinterland, living rent-free and saving $15,000 that she would otherwise have spent on accommodations. The opportunity has given her the chance to explore all the "underrated" places in Australia while saving thousands on rent, nights out and booze"
New Zealand banned phones in schools 12 months ago. Here’s what happened - "studies have shown these bans often don’t work as planned. For example, recent research from the UK involving over 1,200 students found no significant difference in academic grades or wellbeing between schools with strict phone bans and those with more relaxed policies... At one Auckland school, students started using walkie-talkies instead of phones to stay connected with their peers. Examples like this show bans don’t always change behaviour the way they’re intended to. It can simply make students feel as though adults underestimate how tech-savvy they really are."
Clearly a walkie-talkie is a perfect substitute for a smartphone, so there's no point banning the latter
Gen Z workers too terrified about phone calls - forcing new training - "Victoria Bari, the head of training at Berry Recruitment Group, said young people entering the workforce are terrified of speaking over the phone... Young people have hindered Britain's efforts to gather accurate data about its worklessness crisis because they won't answer the phone. And as a result the Office for National Statistics has altered their survey style to rely more on online formats. In May, a survey found that a third of Brits panic when their phone rings unexpectedly and many don't even answer calls, with Gen Z pleading 'just text me'."
Almost half of travelers admit to doing this gross act when they can't find a toilet, new study reveals - "29% of travelers — mainly Gen Z’ers — feel they should be compensated for sitting next to someone who farts while on a train, airplane, or other form of public transportation. The survey took things a step further by having 23% of the younger participants reveal that they think passengers with smelly farts should be removed from a flight... Gen Z needs to learn that sometimes people can’t help but let it out — because flights actually make passengers gassy. This is likely due to the pressure inside the cabin, which often falls as the airplane increases in altitude, according to a 2013 study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Aside from people not being able to control themselves and their smells, the lengths people will go to avoid public bathrooms was also noted — as 40% of travelers admited to peeing in a bottle when they couldn’t find a toilet. And 35% of the people questioned would rather hold it in than use an unfamiliar toilet. As if that wasn’t unhealthy as it is, over 1 in 5 travelers said they have held it in for longer than two hours before finally finding a public bathroom to use... One in three Zoomers are scared to use the restroom at their place of work according to another study by QS Supplies. According to the study, one in 12 employees has never pooped at work."
How fast food joints are getting you to order and spend more - "While kiosks might provide ease for the customer, they also tend to get customers to spend more than they would otherwise. In fact, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti told investors in February that people who ordered at kiosks rather than at cashiers spent nearly 10% more on average, according to Business Insider. Kiosks encourage the customer to add drinks or sides, implement customizations at a cost and switch to a larger meal portion. They also are capable of promoting menu items based on the time of day, season, and weather — such as iced drinks in the summer. Digital order kiosks would “100% of the time try to upsell you to a larger item or ask you if you want to add on french fries or chips and guacamole,” while cashiers may not do so “because there’s a bunch of people trying to get through the line as quickly as possible,” Andy Barish, an analyst at Jefferies, told Business Insider... Some kiosks even allow you to scan your loyalty app for points, which allows the digital system to pull data and offer personalized recommendations. Major fast food chains are planning major digital kiosk expansions thanks to the “tremendous results,” Josh Kobza, CEO of Burger King’s parent company Restaurant Brands International, told investors in November."
Fast food restaurants are imposing time limits on dining in: ‘These rules are here for a reason’ - "It seems that an increasing number of fast food outlets are imposing limits on how long patrons have to gobble their burgers and fries. Recently, a Reddit post detailed a half-hour “eat and run” policy as readers shared similar stories of fast food outlets restricting their chow time... Many claimed they imposed the policy to deter vagrants... “Not sure how many of you have been to Los Angeles, but these rules are here for a reason,” said another. “Vagrants will pull up and literally take up three booths with their belongings for hours after buying a single soda, and if this sign isn’t here they’ll just fight the staff (half the time they fight them anyways).” A third wrote, “Good! The Wendy’s near me is borderline a homeless shelter. Smells f–king awful. Homeless sleeping in the booths. Walked in on one in the bathroom, naked.” However, others blamed “teenagers” and other freeloaders who buy cheap items so they can treat the restaurant as an all-day hangout at which to carouse and leech off the wifi... ten years ago, employees at a McDonald’s outlet in Flushing, Queens called the police on a group of Korean elders who defied their 20-minute eating window. The group would reportedly split a packet of fries ($1.39) and medium coffees ($1.09), and then proceed to colonize the Golden Arches for four hours. “It’s a McDonald’s not a senior center,” griped the outlet’s manager Martha Anderson while voicing her exasperation. She reportedly dialed the cops after the fry squatters refused to move, prompting customers to demand refunds as there was nowhere to sit... it’s not just fast food outlets telling customers to dine and dash…legally speaking. Last year, several restaurants in New York City sparked backlash after imposing 90-minute time limits on diners due to space and staffing shortages following the pandemic."
OPINION: Canada could lower grocery bills by scrapping supply management - "due to supply management, the average Canadian household pays an estimated extra $300 to $444 annually for groceries. Lower-income households are hit harder than other income groups because low-income Canadians spend an estimated one-fifth of their income purchasing food compared to less than 1/20th for upper-income households. And despite supply management’s stated goal of stable prices, food prices for supply-managed goods are often more volatile than non-supply-managed goods. Moving away from supply management has been a successful strategy for New Zealand, which abolished its system in 1984. Despite this success story, lobby groups, led by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, and politicians of all political stripes at the federal level, oppose scrapping Canada’s supply management system. Consider Bill C-282, a piece of legislation currently with the Senate, which seeks to ban supply management from being a bargaining chip in future trade talks with other countries. Every federal party leader endorsed the bill, which passed through the House of Commons without resistance. Supply management has clearly become one of Ottawa’s sacred cows... Until Ottawa scraps supply management, Canadians will continue to pay higher prices for milk, butter, eggs, cheese, chicken and other protected products, despite any symbolic boycotts."
Too bad "supporting farmers" is politically popular, and so is hating big companies and the US
Years-long ban on Canadian beef highlights uncertainty of Chinese market - "well before canola was caught in the crossfire, Canadian beef was already facing difficulties in the Chinese market. China has been blocking beef shipments from Canadian processing plants for almost three years, ever since an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found on an Alberta farm in December 2021... An atypical BSE case does not typically have international trade implications, and China is the only global market that continues to block Canadian beef due to the 2021 discovery."
I wonder whether the Canadians who claim food standards aren't protectionism and it's justified to ban American milk support this
The Protectionism of Food Safety Standards in International Agricultural Trade - "Protectionism in agricultural trade takes many forms from taxes and red tape at the border, to so-called non-tariff measures such as agricultural and food safety standards that exceed those recommended by international public health bodies. The World Trade Organization (WTO) does not set standards but strongly encourages member countries to use internationally accepted science-based standards whenever available. The WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement promotes harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary measures and alignment on international standards, in short, they encourage countries to use the same standards as one another in setting their country’s trade regulation to keep trade opportunities fair. The SPS agreement designates Codex Alimentarius, a joint body of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, as the organization defining standards for food safety. The WTO allows its members to vary from the Codex standards for a product, as long as the standards in its place are science based (evidence of a risk from the regulated substance), non-discriminatory (similar products of all origins treated similarly), and least-trade restrictive (no unnecessary trade impediments). Thus, a country that does not use the Codex standard to regulate its trade does not necessarily indicate protectionist motives, but the Codex standard provides an important baseline for assessing protectionist outcomes... Australia, Japan, and Taiwan come out as the most protectionist countries... The EU, Turkey, and Canada are also among protectionist countries because they have both tight default and established MRLs that are stricter than Codex. Interestingly, a few countries, including South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Albania have MRLs set much below Codex MRLs with the consequence of potentially under-protecting the health of their consumers from harmful residues."
Crémieux on X - "Here's something interesting. Across regions of the continental U.S., Whites tend to have higher fertility in places that are more homogeneously White."
Laura Matsue on X - "Life really comes at you fast. One day I was a leftist because I was into organic food and not taking pharmaceuticals and now I’m a far-right extremist for being into those exact same things"
Thread by @cremieuxrecueil on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Researchers put together an incredible workplace wellness program that provided thousands of workers with paid time off to receive biometric health screening, health risk assessments, smoking cessation help, stress management, exercise, etc. What did this do for their health?🧵
So, for starters, this program had a large sample and ran over multiple years. Because of it, we have evidence on what people do with clinical health info, with exercise encouragement and advice, with nutritional knowledge, through peer effects, and so on. Participants in the treatment group were prompted to participate with cash rewards ranging from $50 to $350. Go to screening? Earn some money, help yourself by bolstering your knowledge about yourself and potentially improving your health. What could be simpler? The participants certainly seemed to think so. The cash rewards did get more people into screenings and advising, and they even got some people moving more. If estimates from earlier studies were to be believed, this effort should even do enough to save employers money! But that didn't work. Average monthly medical spending didn't change when comparing the treatment to the control group.
In fact, this study stands out in the literature, as getting nulls across basically every outcome relevant to the employer. Health and wellness incentives and opportunities did not make people less absent or medically costly, or much else (which we'll get to). Before getting to other outcomes, we have to ask: Why trust this over other results? A few reasons:
For one, it was bigger than other studies in the experimental literature.
For two, it was preregistered, publicly archived, and independently analyzed by outside researchers.
All of that on its own is really good. But what really takes the cake is that the prior literature was impacted by p-hacking and publication bias, whereas these researchers committed to publishing their results regardless. Who do you trust more? "We aren't financially conflicted and we'll publish regardless of what happens and of course we provide data and code." or "p = 0.04, this program is life-changing (ignore my financial conflicts of interest :))" I know my answer, you know my answer.
Now let's talk other outcomes.
Medical spending: not affected in total, admin-wise, drug-wise, office-wise, hospital-wise, or in terms of any utilization metric.
Employment and productivity: Didn't affect employee retention, salaries, promotions, sick leave, overtime, etc.
More employment and productivity: Didn't affect job satisfaction or feelings of productivity. BUT, did affect views about management priorities on health (increased) and the likelihood of engaging in a job search (increased). That's backfiring, potentially.
Participants failed to increase their number of gym visits, didn't participate in the IL marathon, 10k, or 5k more often, despite smoking cessation advice and help they didn't smoke less, they didn't report better health, hell, they became (marginally-significantly) fatter! Across basically every metric, the results were null, null, and--my favorite--null. And this is what we expect with credible intervention evaluations of high-quality samples. This is so common, in fact, that it's been dubbed the "Stainless Steel Law":
But the most amazing detail, in my opinion, is that this study went further: It explained why prior observational work showed such large benefits for workplace wellness programs. The reason is selection: health-conscious employees selected into the program and stuck with it! These programs' effectiveness is a classic example of selection leading to results that simply cannot be trusted. But... how?! Why?! After all, this program had all the ingredients that so many prominent people think will solve America's public health issues. The answer is that they misunderstand people. Most people are lazy, commitment is hard.
My recommendation to ppl who haven't learned that is to do a clinical rotation or read abt the thousands of programs across America that have done food delivery coaching, etc., with no effect This leads me to something important: Do you know why Ozempic works so well and has enjoyed such incredible popularity of late? If you can understand these headlines, you'll get it. Ozempic makes it automatic to lose weight. It takes out the effort, and people have an easier time doing more (in this case, work) than they do being asked to eat less or doing things that simultaneously bore and fatigue them (exercise) without a commitment mechanism like a boss. For this reason, GLP-1RAs are going to decisively beat all efforts to advise people, to provide them with healthy food and instructions on how to prepare it, and all of that tried-and-true advice that's been around and in vogue for decades, but clearly hasn't worked. To top this all off, here's the result of a contemporaneous large, cluster-randomized controlled trial of workplace wellness programs at BJ's Wholesale Club. Similar intervention, somewhat optimistic effects, and, once again, no results to show for it."
The Iron Law Of Evaluation And Other Metallic Rules, by Peter H. Rossi - "“The Iron Law Of Evaluation And Other Metallic Rules” is a classic review paper by American “sociologist Peter Rossi, a dedicated progressive and the nation’s leading expert on social program evaluation from the 1960s through the 1980s”; it discusses the difficulties of creating a useful social program, and proposed some aphoristic summary rules, including most famously:
The Iron law: “The expected value of any net impact assessment of any large scale social program is zero”
the Stainless Steel law: “the better designed the impact assessment of a social program, the more likely is the resulting estimate of net impact to be zero.”"
Thread by @cremieuxrecueil on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Pirenne's thesis holds that Antiquity—the period when economic activity concentrated in the Mediterranean—ended because the rise of Islam destroyed the flow of trade across it. The decline in trade that resulted from differences in faith had profound consequences for the economic geography of Europe. Byzantine economic activity depended on trade, and it collapsed, whereas the Frankish economy, which was never trade-dependent, transformed. The Byzantines' minting stalled and the Arabs' and Franks' increased (perhaps partly because they were cut off from one another!), providing each of their states with divergent trends in seignorage revenues and a widening gulf in the ability to fund the government. The decline of antiquity certainly can't be blamed entirely on the Arab conquests, but the collapse of trade resulting from that conflict of faith definitely has some interesting consequences."
Uncensored | Jewish Voices ✡️ | Douglas Murray has a Question that Haunts the Muslim World. | Instagram - "There's a particular problem in the Islamic world which people don't really talk about very much but it's this: that, that the Quran is meant to be the final revelation of God to man. The final revelation. There's none after it. And all the revelations that come before in the Abrahamic religions are part of Islam. If you are the recipients of the final word, and you are the followers of that word, and the followers of that prophet and that God, why is your society not working, and why are other societies working? I think this is a deep psychological problem within much of the Muslim world. Which is, we thought we were meant, we were the winners theologically. We're the ones who got the final revelation. And I think by the way that much of the anti-Americanism, the anti- Zionism, and anti-Westernism in much of the Muslim world falls down to this fact somewhere at its root. Which is how come they're doing better than us when we were told that we were best"
Meme - "BROWARD REAL BOSSES
Rita Frazier: Anyone can do my hair for food stamps? $250 Long, broward county area... hair Style 1st then we Go shopping together"
Meme - "Date a black guy they said, it'll be fun they said. *Girl with injured legs in rehab*"
"NOT SURE IF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE JOKE OR PENIS SIZE JOKE..."
Meme - The Adventure Nexus: "a found family"
Kate Holden @darthmongoose: "How D&D is presented on tv: a band of stoic heroes fight dragons and rescue maidens fair.
Actual D&D: dysfunctional adopted family of bisexual disaster kleptomaniacs set everything on fire while drunk and flirt with anything vaguely humanoid."
John Aaron Schmidt: "I have news for you. That second group isn't playing D&D. They are just giving voice to their deviant fantasies."
Meme - "How society expects men to look *buff man*
What society expects men to accept *fat Miss Alabama Sara Milliken*"
Meme - r/science: "Physical attractiveness outweighs intelligence in daughters' and parents' mate choices, even when the less attractive option is described as more intelligent."
"How come attractiveness is a proven scientific fact, but unattractive people are called incels every time they mention it?"
"r/science"
Meme - @komisiantikorupsikoruptord6257: "The Korean nation is a great nation. They managed to create 2 dystopias on one peninsula."
Meme - Christopher Fae @FaeAccompli: "Fucking Nazis, man"
Mack @kenzietuff: "Modern relationships are nothing more than a humiliation ritual for men. It's not a Scooby Doo mystery why fertility rates are down."
Anyone who advocates for men is a Nazi
Meme - LindyMan @PaulSkallas: "An underrated reason why you see so many white male with Asian female relationships is because both groups see the other group as attractive and can't distinguish ugliness from beauty within that group."
Johnny Li @seeingmole: "Westerners think Lucy Liu is pretty, but for us Asians, she is far from it. She has the exaggerated facial features of Asians, which is probably why Hollywood made her to fame as the token Asian girl."
