Airlines call in psychologists to stop passengers risking their lives for bags - "Safety mandates require that aircraft be evacuated within 90 seconds, with only half of the exits in use. This target, Nick Careen, IATA’s safety and security chief, said, is “not close” to being achieved."
The Royal Navy abandoned one of its oldest traditions, and plunged into decline - "The last rum ration in the RN was issued on July 31 1970, “Black Tot Day”. Junior ratings are nowadays permitted to buy three half-pint cans of beer a day, which they are not supposed to hoard up. Senior rates and officers can drink what they like but they have to buy it themselves. Watch-standing personnel seldom drink at sea at all in the modern era. The Royal Navy at the time of Lt Cdr Maud’s court-martial was probably the best and most powerful in the world. When Black Tot Day came it remained a formidable force. Today it is in a pitiable condition. That’s clearly just one of those coincidences, of course."
Bulgaria adopts the euro. It risks sparking the EU’s next crisis - "it is worth noting that the really successful economies within the EU, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, show absolutely no interest in having anything to do with it, even though they are legally required to join. Against that, it is not hard to see what might happen next. A succession of unstable governments will ramp up spending to stay in power. Money will be siphoned off to cronies, and borrowing, now implicitly backed by the European Central Bank (ECB), will grow and grow until the racket becomes unsustainable, the markets pull the plug and the economy crashes. In short, it will be the Greek crisis all over again. The trouble is, the eurozone is in far worse shape than when the last crisis erupted in 2010. France’s debts have spiralled out of control. Its debt-to-GDP ratio has risen from 81pc to 114pc. Germany has embarked on a massive debt-fuelled spending spree, and is no longer in any position to bail out its neighbours. The EU itself has now taken on massive debts. We have no real idea what the ECB’s balance sheet looks like after years of covert market intervention. But it is hardly encouraging that last year it reported a record loss of nearly €8bn (£7bn), or that it now has negative capital, or that the governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, felt he needed to point out in October that the central bank wasn’t bankrupt (thanks, Francois, that’s reassuring, at least in a “the board has full confidence in the manager” kind of a way). It is possible that a strong and successful eurozone could absorb a struggling Bulgaria. But this one? It is asking for trouble. It is even more extraordinary that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is determined to tie the UK closer to the EU at the worst possible moment. Why would Britain, with massive debts of its own, want to put itself potentially on the hook for free-spending politicians in Sofia or risk contagion from a chaotic eurozone to our own already fragile bond markets? When Greece joined the eurozone 25 years ago, the bloc was still relatively strong, with far lower overall debt, fiscal rules that countries were still paying at least some attention to, and output roughly equal to that of the United States. Talk of the euro replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency had some credibility. Today, the bloc is drowning in debt. It has abandoned any restraints on borrowing, its industrial base is collapsing, it is dependent on imported energy and it has fallen far behind the US. It will soon be behind China as well. All it will take is one spark to ignite another Greek-style crisis. Bulgaria may be about to provide it, and from now on, it is already too late to do anything to prevent it"
Teacher fined for throwing away cigarette – despite being in different country - "A retired geography teacher was fined for throwing away a cigarette butt in Nottingham – despite being in a different country at the time of the offence. Ray Weatherburn, 76, who said he had never smoked, was told by Nottingham city council he was witnessed littering from his silver Vauxhall Corsa on Aug 13. But Mr Weatherburn, a former 800m running champion, said he was eating breakfast in Normandy, France, and his car was at his home in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland – about 270 miles from Nottingham."
Muslim employee rituals breaks in customers houses : r/LegalAdviceUK - "We employ a Muslim person and they have been with us for 3 years. We install shutters. We recently hired another person who goes along to jobs with them and we have found out that they are going into customers houses to do rituals which last 10/15 minutes in their bathrooms. We weren't made aware of this when we employed them. As the employee isn't working from an office, they're out on the road and in customers houses a lot, they have said this is the only place they can do their rituals. Are we as the employer allows to say that we do not want them to do this in customers houses?"
Islamophobia!
Liberals are bringing back the Harper policies they reversed: Hopper - "When the Liberals first took power in 2015, one of their first legislative actions was an all-out drive to reverse seemingly everything that carried the stamp of the prior Conservative government. But particularly in the last year, a lot of these Stephen Harper-era policies have started to come back, in part because the Liberal-prescribed alternative eventually became an untenable disaster...
Price carbon behind the scenes, where nobody notices... As Harper would explain after his retirement, he saw carbon taxes as a “revenue policy” rather than a climate one. “A carbon tax would have to be astronomically high to have any profound effect on fuels and emissions,” he said in a 2019 interview. Instead, the one time Harper did flirt with a strategy to price carbon emissions, it was in the form of a “cap and trade” policy...
Home mail delivery is unsustainable again
In 2014, the Harper government gave the go-ahead for Canada Post to begin phasing out home mail delivery...
Slapping visas on abuse-prone countries is cool again
Mandatory minimums and tougher bail are coming back
A recurrent theme of the 2015 election was that the Conservatives had become obsessed with their “tough on crime” agenda, and that Liberals were needed to restore a “modern” approach to criminal justice... The Liberals’ term in government just happened to correlate almost perfectly with a steady year-on-year increase in virtually all categories of Canadian crime..
Canada is (probably) buying F-35s again...
If Canada had stuck to the initial fighter replacement plan introduced under Harper, there would have been F-35s in the RCAF fleet as early as 2016. Instead, it became a 2015 Liberal election promise that Canada “will not buy the F-35.” The new Trudeau government cancelled the purchase and began an “open, fair and transparent” process to find another fighter. A process that, seven years later, ended with the decision to buy F-35s after all. Although even that reversal might now be reversed again, with Carney government officials musing on whether they should cancel the F-35 order in favour of the Saab Gripen. This is despite the fact that the aforementioned process to find a replacement fighter has already reviewed the Gripen, and found that it lagged the F-35 in almost every way."
Five Times August on X - "Have you ever raged against the machine so hard that you eventually won and accepted a corporate trophy music award and went on the Disney channel to celebrate it?"
On Rage Against The Machine
Mrs. S. on X - "Met an older woman at a bar last night. She wasn't bad for 57. We drank and flirted a bit, then she asked, "Have you ever had a mother and daughter combo?" I said no. We drank a bit more, then she said, "Well, tonight's your lucky night." I went back to her place. She turned on the hallway light and shouted upstairs: "Mom, you still awake?""
Meme - "U ever go to a girls house feeling confident then right before you bout to fuck, u glance at her nightstand and see a 12" LED vibrating double-sided ribbed realcock Planet Of The Gapes edition dildo with anal and clitoral attachments and just know u about to disappoint this woman"
Meme - "Dude, you better come see this. Your wife is on a dating site"
"That lying bitch! She is not "fun to be around""
Meme - *Clown putting on makeup*
2016: DNC picks candidate, not voters
2020 DNC picks candidate, not voters
2024 DNC picks candidate, not voters
Vote for us to save democracy"
Uniqlo doubles down on being Singapore’s ‘national uniform’ - "Fashion retailer Uniqlo appears to be embracing its role as the default dresser of the Singaporean male, and has rolled out a palette of Singapore-exclusive colours for its lightweight Airism tops that it is branding the “SG uniform”. The three new Singapore-exclusive colours for its oversized half-sleeve shirts – orange, red and dark green – were made available in stores and online from June 10. The signage above them declared: “The SG uniform”... With 30 stores across the island, Singapore is the market with the highest density of Uniqlo stores per capita outside of Japan, surpassing other markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. There is around one Uniqlo store for every 189,000 people in Singapore, compared with one for every 155,000 people in Japan, and one for every 220,000 people in Hong Kong... “Social media perpetuates this idea that the whole Uniqlo uniform by Singaporean men is not desirable at all. But is it really? What’s wrong with a sartorial selection criteria that consists of well-made basics that can stand the test of time?... “I think that there are many other brands on the market that are of a similar price bracket and quality, like Muji, but Uniqlo makes it convenient to get the same piece of clothing that you know fits you well repeatedly or in different colours,” says the lawyer, who wears Uniqlo to work almost every day. “It’s definitely the convenience that appeals to a large portion of Singaporeans,” he adds. Mr Lau Kang, 26, who spoke to ST while dressed entirely in Uniqlo, says not standing out is part of the point of packing his wardrobe with the brand. “It suits bars, restaurants, beach days and casual wear. And not standing out means less glares in public,” he says. “All in all, Uniqlo hits the mark in every aspect of what I want in menswear.” However, he adds that he is unlikely to pick up the new Singapore-exclusive shades of the oversized T-shirt. “I’m not that obsessed,” he says."
Nature is Amazing ☘️ on X - "Hippos can’t technically swim The perfect combination of buoyancy and bone density allows them to “fly” thorough water at speeds of 5mph, (8 kph) propelling themselves using intermittent ground contact, like astronauts on a moon walk"
Edward C. Yong ن on X - "TIL the Hong Kong slang term for a power bank is 尿袋 (urine bag)"
Most Europeans think state pensions will become unaffordable, polling shows - "Most Europeans believe their country’s state pension system will soon become unaffordable – but they also think the current scheme is not generous enough, and do not support options for overhauling it such as raising the retirement age."
Tony Lane 🇺🇸 on X - "WOW. Read this carefully. Over 40 daycare centers reportedly opened in Columbus, Ohio on the same day, all linked to the same inactive shell entity — and together pulled in $14 MILLION in taxpayer-funded subsidies in a single year. Same paperwork. Same structure. Same funding stream. No matter where you land politically, this raises serious questions:
• How was this approved?
• Who signed off?
• Where was the oversight?
If this is accurate, it’s not a small loophole - it’s a systemic failure. Is this fraud… or a broken system being exploited? Source: @Rightanglenews"
Possibly related to the Somali fraud. This doesn't stop left wingers wanting to expand the government
(Wall Street Apes on X - "WOAH 🚨 Nick Shirley exposes there are 1,200 medical transport companies in Minnesota. For a year, photos with timestamps were taken of the vans that are supposed to be used by these companies NONE MOVED IN A YEAR. They sit parked, but are getting paid to transport patients “I have been to many of these transportation companies and I've been time stamping my photographs for a whole year at one facility in Minneapolis and those vans in that parking lot had not moved one inch in an entire year. They're all still sitting there” “So when you think about it, you have with the transportation companies, you have the adult care centers. So are they working hand in hand together to then say we're getting the services from them adult daycare centers to then transport them to their appointments” (and it’s ALL FRAUD)"
Meme - "HELLO EVERYONE! I'M CURRENTLY IN PRAGUE, WANDERING THE STREETS IN SEARCH OF LOCATIONS FEATURED IN MY FAVORITE CZECH FILMS. *photographs from Czech porn scenes on real world locations*"
Crickets aren't the miracle source of protein - "Crickets, known to pack a protein punch, are often touted as “the sustainable food of the future,” but the issue is far more complex than that, say University of California Cooperative Extension agronomist Mark Lundy and horticultural entomologist Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, in research published today (April 15) in the Public Library of Science (PLOS ONE). "While there is potential for insect cultivation to augment the global supply of dietary protein, some of the sustainability claims on this topic have been overstated,” said Lundy, who headed the research at UC Davis while seeking his doctorate in agronomy. “Our study demonstrates that the sustainability gains associated with cultivating crickets as an alternative source of protein will depend, in large part, on what the crickets are fed and which systems of livestock production they are compared to.”... Worldwide, statistics show that crickets are the most widely cultivated insects for the human diet, and are considered the “gateway bug” to entomophagy. They are touted as highly nutritious, and much better for the planet — environmentally and financially — than livestock due to their comparatively efficient feed conversion."
Your Work Peak Is Earlier Than You Think - The Atlantic - "Almost all studies of happiness over the life span show that, in wealthier countries, most people’s contentment starts to increase again in their 50s, until age 70 or so. That is where things get less predictable, however. After 70, some people stay steady in happiness; others get happier until death. Others—men in particular—see their happiness plummet. Indeed, depression and suicide rates for men increase after age 75... A few researchers have looked at this cohort to understand what drives their unhappiness. It is, in a word, irrelevance. In 2007, a team of academic researchers at UCLA and Princeton analyzed data on more than 1,000 older adults. Their findings, published in the Journal of Gerontology, showed that senior citizens who rarely or never “felt useful” were nearly three times as likely as those who frequently felt useful to develop a mild disability, and were more than three times as likely to have died during the course of the study... giftedness and achievements early in life do not appear to provide an insurance policy against suffering later on. In 1999, Carole Holahan and Charles Holahan, psychologists at the University of Texas, published an influential paper in The International Journal of Aging and Human Development that looked at hundreds of older adults who early in life had been identified as highly gifted. The Holahans’ conclusion: “Learning at a younger age of membership in a study of intellectual giftedness was related to … less favorable psychological well-being at age eighty.”... “Unhappy is he who depends on success to be happy”... According to research by Dean Keith Simonton, a professor emeritus of psychology at UC Davis and one of the world’s leading experts on the trajectories of creative careers, success and productivity increase for the first 20 years after the inception of a career, on average. So if you start a career in earnest at 30, expect to do your best work around 50 and go into decline soon after that. The specific timing of peak and decline vary somewhat depending on the field... Looking at major inventors and Nobel winners going back more than a century, Jones has found that the most common age for producing a magnum opus is the late 30s... Much of literary achievement follows a similar pattern. Simonton has shown that poets peak in their early 40s. Novelists generally take a little longer. When Martin Hill Ortiz, a poet and novelist, collected data on New York Times fiction best sellers from 1960 to 2015, he found that authors were likeliest to reach the No. 1 spot in their 40s and 50s. Despite the famous productivity of a few novelists well into old age, Ortiz shows a steep drop-off in the chance of writing a best seller after the age of 70. (Some nonfiction writers—especially historians—peak later, as we shall see in a minute.) Entrepreneurs peak and decline earlier, on average... British psychologist Raymond Cattell, who in the early 1940s introduced the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Cattell defined fluid intelligence as the ability to reason, analyze, and solve novel problems—what we commonly think of as raw intellectual horsepower. Innovators typically have an abundance of fluid intelligence. It is highest relatively early in adulthood and diminishes starting in one’s 30s and 40s. This is why tech entrepreneurs, for instance, do so well so early, and why older people have a much harder time innovating. Crystallized intelligence, in contrast, is the ability to use knowledge gained in the past. Think of it as possessing a vast library and understanding how to use it. It is the essence of wisdom. Because crystallized intelligence relies on an accumulating stock of knowledge, it tends to increase through one’s 40s, and does not diminish until very late in life. Careers that rely primarily on fluid intelligence tend to peak early, while those that use more crystallized intelligence peak later. For example, Dean Keith Simonton has found that poets—highly fluid in their creativity—tend to have produced half their lifetime creative output by age 40 or so. Historians—who rely on a crystallized stock of knowledge—don’t reach this milestone until about 60... teaching is an ability that decays very late in life, a principal exception to the general pattern of professional decline over time. A study in The Journal of Higher Education showed that the oldest college professors in disciplines requiring a large store of fixed knowledge, specifically the humanities, tended to get evaluated most positively by students. This probably explains the professional longevity of college professors, three-quarters of whom plan to retire after age 65—more than half of them after 70, and some 15 percent of them after 80... death is scarier when it is theoretical and remote than when it is a concrete reality closing in."
Why are Canadian Conservatives and their voters getting shit on so heavily after losing, when they haven't been in power for over 10 years? : r/CanadianConservative - "Because of Trump mostly. I notice that Canadian liberals associate all conservatives with Trump. Are currently protesting against Trump, and took the election as an opportunity to get revenge on Trump. They aren’t concerned with the poor financial health of the country. Our youth unemployment rate is double the US, but they still look at the US and think “wow am sure happy we aren’t them” for some reason"
"It does feel like the Liberal party really successfully tapped into Canadians "we're America's allies, but we're way better than them" attitudes that a lot of Canadians have. Also, by making Carney the leader, they can implicitly admit Trudeau was terrible economically without explicitly admitting it."
Cost of living has 85% of Canadians 'living paycheque to paycheque' - "A new H&R Block Canada survey on how much money Canadians save shows that they’re increasingly worried about not putting enough away for a rainy day. As a rule of thumb, 20 per cent of people’s paycheques should go towards savings. However, on average, participants said they only manage to put away 7 per cent of their earnings... “When thinking about the prevailing culture of saving in Canada, a whopping 85 per cent feel that living paycheque to paycheque is the new norm,” reads the survey. “This is up from 60 per cent who said they felt that way in a similar H&R Block study from 2024.”"
Pakistan bans beggars from foreign travel; 66,000 flyers with suspicious documents stopped at airports this year - "After facing embarrassment overseas due to illegal begging, visa violations and document fraud, the Pakistan government has banned its nationals with incomplete travel documents and professional beggars from travelling abroad... Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that more than 66,000 passengers had been offloaded from Pakistani airports this year over suspected irregular travel, while tens of thousands were deported from Gulf states and other countries amid a broader crackdown on illegal migration, as reported by Arab News. The authorities have intensified the crackdown on illegal migration after 2023 when hundreds of people, including Pakistani nationals, had died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in an overcrowded fishing vessel that sank off the Greek coast. The incident prompted widespread outrage and scrutiny of smuggling networks. Recently, several cases were reported in Saudi Arabia where Pakistani citizens were misusing their Umrah visas to beg for money."
Boats to be banned around Toronto's famous clothing-optional beach : r/toronto - "Privacy? Last time I went to this beach with my husband I felt like meat As soon as I took my bikini top off guys wouldn’t stop staring at me it was very creepy My husband took our toddler for a pee in the bushes and said the bushels were crowded with random dudes having sex with each other and didn’t stop when they saw a child"
Will Stancil on X - "The openness with which MAGA fanatics admit they’re trying to collapse society and make us less safe is really something else. You’re sociopaths and you shouldn’t be allowed to ever hold power"
Thread by @feelsdesperate on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Just a reminder that ‘the institutions’ supported the sort of dangerous, prohibited GOF that resulted in COVID, killing 10s of millions of people and costing trillions of dollars. The institutions then locked us in our homes and forced low risk people (including children!) to… …take an experimental therapeutic as the price of re-entering society. They also closed schools for years irreparably harming the most vulnerable students who will never make up the lost time. The institutions think confused tween girls should be injected with Lupron,… …and they think middle aged men who become sexually aroused by thinking of themselves as women *are women.* The institutions don’t think you can be trusted with your own mind. They think you need constant ideological surveillance and censorship and they conspired with tech… …to violate the 1st Amendment and censor and suppress discourse on politics and health policy. The institutions don’t think that democracy is *safe* unless it is managed and to that end they created the Russia collusion hoax, spied on the Trump campaign via FISA courts,… …and ran an op in 2020 to blunt the impact of Hunter’s laptop which was full of evidence on nefarious Biden family ‘business dealings.’ The institutions think you need constant ideological regimentation and to that end they’ve produced an endless stream of deranged, racialist… …hoaxes and two minute hates. Through all of this the institutions have been ‘doing politics’ to you, but when there is any mention of political accountability on their part for their malfeasance and malevolence they shriek hysterically like Will that they are ‘protecting’… …you and keeping things ‘safe’ and if they are called to account for their actions the sky will fall down."
Joe on X - ""Defund the police!"
"Legalize shoplifting, protect squatters, and distribute needles to homeless drug users!"
"Let predatory men into women's restrooms and changing rooms if they put on a dress!"
"ThE iNsTiTuTiOnS aRe PrOtEcTiNg YoU!" 🙄"
