The most extreme solutions to overtourism
The Reykjavik Confessions - "All six had now confessed to their involvement in the two murders. After an investigation which had lasted more than a year, there was however no physical evidence, and the suspects’ memories were hazy. Yet they had all told police and signed statements that, yes, they had either killed Geirfinnur and Gudmundur or helped dispose of their bodies... When Gudjon began the diary after his arrest in November 1976, he confidently stated: “I know nothing about his case.” In the following weeks as his solitary confinement started to take hold, he expressed his frustration at being unable to remember, asking God to help him. By December, after he had confessed, he wrote: “I can’t remember anything and I’m losing my mind.” And, by January 1977 he was “involved in some unbelievable web of lies”. “There is something really wrong about this case. Particularly the fact that I can’t remember anything.” If he could not remember why would he confess? Gisli Gudjonsson, the former Icelandic detective has read the diary and believes he knows the answer. Now a leading forensic psychologist he has worked on many of the major miscarriages of justice in UK - such as the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four. He is one of the world’s leading experts on false memory syndrome and says Gudjon’s diary is one of the clearest examples of it he has come across... Memory distrust syndrome is a relatively new concept in forensic psychology, and has only begun to be studied extensively in the past 30 years. Gisli Gudjonsson is one of its pioneers and his research has shown how it can lead to suspects making false confessions about crimes they didn’t commit. The triggers for it are isolation, persuasive police interrogations where they may confront suspects with false evidence, and high emotional intensity where the police highlight the futility of continual denials. It’s a controversial concept, particularly among some police officers who see it as a way-out for criminals. That’s why Gudjon’s diary is so important as it shows the slow process of someone beginning to distrust their memory. The diary’s existence only emerged in 2011 when the Icelandic government set up a special committee to investigate the way the police handed the case. The inquiry spoke to the surviving people convicted of the killings, as well as relatives, lawyers and police... “The sad thing is after almost 40 years, Albert Klahn doesn’t know what happened. He doesn’t know whether he is guilty or innocent. “Can you imagine? After 40 years, you’re living in the dread that perhaps you were involved and you can’t remember anything.”... It’s an A5 black and white photo of one of the suspects, Kristjan Vidarsson, pretending to strangle a middle-aged policeman who is playing the part of Geirfinnur. Crime reconstructions are common but getting the suspected killers to re-enact an offence they can’t remember shows how desperate the police had become in their struggle to find any evidence. There are other macabre photos - a misshapen dummy lying in the snow, and Kristjan standing nearby. Whatever they had gone through, the suspects had become compliant, willing to participate in scenes which would be used against them. Gisli Gudjonsson says it is a dangerous strategy. “Being taken to a crime scene, re-enacting something that you are alleged to have done without any really clear knowledge of what took place contaminates the entire case. “So once you have enacted something, it then becomes more of a reality for the individual.”... In 1970s Iceland, keeping prisoners in solitary confinement was a more acceptable practice - a way to break down their resistance. It was known that the six suspects had spent a considerable time in isolation. But when the committee set up by the government to investigate the case got hold of the prison custody logs, they revealed information which Gisli Gudjonsson says he simply could not believe. “I’ve worked on miscarriages of justice in many different countries. I’ve testified in several countries - hundreds of cases I’ve done, big cases. “I’d never come across any case where there had been such intense interrogation, so many interrogations and such lengthy solitary confinement. I mean I was absolutely shocked when I saw that.” Gudjon spent 14 months in solitary confinement, but even Erla was in isolation for 105 days, away from her young daughter. During this time she was interviewed over 100 times and her lawyer was only present on three occasions. These interviews could go on throughout the day and into the night. Prison officers were recruited too to befriend the inmates, to extract more information... “His head was put into a washing bucket of water and he was told if he didn’t confess he would be drowned. “Of course he wasn’t drowned but this is, and was, torture of course.”... “They can’t keep me here any longer, I can’t wait to go to court so I can tell them what really happened. I confessed to this just to make everything stop and get out of here and see my friends, see my family.” They also detail the drugs that he was given on virtually a daily basis, including diazepam and mogadon, to help him sleep and calm him down. They can also cause amnesia. Kristin says he tried to resist their administration: “He is saying ‘I’m done with this and I’m not going to take them’ and other days he’s saying ‘It’s better if I take them and don’t make a fuss about it. And it’s better to be completely numb here.’”... “These individuals had absolutely no knowledge of what happened. They were just trying to appease the police, they were trying to be co-operative because they knew if they were not co-operative they would be given more solitary confinement.”"
Bubble tea bubble: Why investors are snubbing the popular drink (aka "Is China's bubble tea bubble about to burst?") - "Stock market debuts of two China-based chains have already flopped... Bubble tea "provides very much an affordable pleasure to consumers in China", said Mr Yu, pointing to the "wide price range" of products being offered by different bubble tea chains. Some investors, however, have not shown the same level of enthusiasm. Seeking to cash in on the craze, several Chinese tea chains have looked to sell shares to the public in recent years. Last month, China's third largest bubble tea chain, Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial, known as Chabaidao, made its stock market debut. The shares plunged on their first day of trade and have yet to recover. That followed another disappointing debut by Shenzhen-based Nayuki. Its shares have lost more than 80% of their value since their launch in Hong Kong almost three years ago... It "has relatively low barriers to entry, leading to increased competition," said Kenny Ng, Securities Strategist of Everbright Securities International. "Many companies rely on opening new stores to sustain revenue growth. However, this expansion strategy can lead to a decline in gross profit margins as companies face higher costs associated with store operations and management." For bubble tea fans, growing competition has its advantages. Han is a regular boba drinker from Beijing who used to stay away from certain premium brands because she found them too expensive. That has changed. She says price has become less of a factor when choosing between different brands because "they have a lot of discounts and vouchers". But for bubble tea makers and their potential investors, lower prices and higher costs could prove to be an unattractive recipe."
From 2024
The dangerous downsides of perfectionism - "The rise in perfectionism doesn’t mean each generation is becoming more accomplished. It means we’re getting sicker, sadder and even undermining our own potential. Perfectionism, after all, is an ultimately self-defeating way to move through the world. It is built on an excruciating irony: making, and admitting, mistakes is a necessary part of growing and learning and being human. It also makes you better at your career and relationships and life in general. By avoiding mistakes at any cost, a perfectionist can make it harder to reach their own lofty goals. But the drawback of perfectionism isn’t just that it holds you back from being your most successful, productive self. Perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to a laundry list of clinical issues: depression and anxiety (even in children), self-harm, social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, binge eating, anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, hoarding, dyspepsia, chronic headaches, and, most damning of all, even early mortality and suicide... Faced with failure, “perfectionists tend to respond more harshly in terms of emotions. They experience more guilt, more shame,” says Hill. They also experience more anger. “They give up more easily. They have quite avoidant coping tendencies when things can't be perfect.”... Perfectionism is also dangerous. Record numbers of young people are experiencing mental illness, according to the World Health Organisation. Depression, anxiety and suicide ideation are more common in the US, Canada and the UK now than a decade ago. Research shows that perfectionistic tendencies predict issues like depression, anxiety and stress – even when researchers controlled for traits like neuroticism. Worsening matters, being self-critical might lead to depressive symptoms but those symptoms then can make self-criticism worse, closing a distressing loop... It’s also been shown that one of the most robust protections against anxiety and depression is self-compassion – the very thing that perfectionists lack. And self-criticism, which perfectionists are so good at, predicts depression."
Why your toilet needs reinvention - "In the average UK home, they account for at least 30% of water use. While low flush toilets are gaining popularity, their 6.5-litre flush still consumes nearly 12,000 litres per person per year, assuming a modest five flushes per day. It also flushes everything at once, which can be bad news. Urine comprises only 1% of domestic sewage, but contains 90% of wastewater’s nitrogen, 50% of its phosphorus, and the lion’s share of dissolved pharmaceuticals like endocrine disruptors that even in minute quantities can alter hormone systems in humans and aquatic life... Enter the modern NoMix toilet, designed to separate urine from faeces by means of toilet geography. Liquid only? Aim for the front. More solid contributions? Leave those at the rear. Since the urine isn’t flushed down the sewer, but collected, it also uses less water."
Family left £5,000 out of pocket and holiday ruined because airline didn't know Jersey was real - "A Jersey family said their holiday was ruined because the airline they were travelling with did not recognise their passports. Iwona Izbinska-Sosnowska, her husband Andrzej and daughter Ava, 19, planned to fly with China Eastern Airlines to Vietnam from London Gatwick. They had arranged a three-week trip to Hanoi and Hạ Long Bay - a celebration of Iwona surviving cancer... It's not the first time Jersey residents have been affected by border confusion. Earlier this year, Jersey asked the UK Home Office for support after residents were barred from boarding flights to the island - despite being permitted to do so. The home affairs minister in Jersey's letter to authorities explained that lawful residents were wrongly denied boarding as a result of new border requirements being misinterpreted. It comes after the implementation of the new digital Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which has been confused with Jersey's physical immigration documents."
Vuong: TDSB tolerates assault, but has zero tolerance for self-defence - "If your seven-year-old is beaten at school and dares to defend themselves, the full weight of the system falls on them — while the child beating them is met, every time, with patience and endless second chances... Quietly, other parents have come to this boy’s mother with at least four other families reporting that their own children have been hurt by the same child. That changes the problem entirely. This is no longer a single case of targeted bullying — it is one child repeatedly targeting and harming the children around him."
Genting restaurant that charged S'poreans S$293 for steamed fish cleared of profiteering charge after 3-month investigation - "A Genting Highlands restaurant that charged a group of Singaporean tourists RM902 (S$293.25) for a single wild river patin fish has been cleared of profiteering, following an investigation by Pahang's Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Bureau... In March, a Singaporean tourist known as Jimmy visited Loong Kee Restaurant at Gohtong Jaya. He came with a group of friends, 10 of whom were fellow Singaporean senior citizens. He told Stomp the group got the "shock of (their) lives" when they saw the bill for a wild river patin, also known as silver catfish, weighing 2.7kg. They had been told it was priced at RM338 per kg, bringing the fish alone to RM902 (S$293.25)... The group protested the bill but was unable to dispute it, having not confirmed the price and weight before the fish was served. Their total bill for the meal came to RM1,762 (S$572.88). In response, the restaurant said its staff had followed standard ordering procedures and explained the pricing and weight to the customer... the restaurant has since said it would optimise its seafood ordering process, and will more clearly communicate the fish species, weight, unit price, and total price to customers before placing orders... Pahang State Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee Chairman Shen Chunxiang told reporters at a press conference that the bureau had investigated the restaurant under its "Ops Kesan 5.0" operation after receiving public complaints... The Pahang Domestic Trade Bureau Director clarified at the press conference that profiteering is not determined by price alone. The bureau assesses a merchant's profit margin against an allowable profit rate, calculated using the merchant's historical profit data over several years. Based on the restaurant's data from 2023 to 2025, the allowable profit rate was set at 56.74 per cent. Loong Kee Restaurant's actual average profit margin from January to March 2026 was 44.08 per cent, which fell below the threshold"
First reading: The unprecedented violence targeting Canadian police - "June has proved to be such a violent month for Canadian police that officers are being killed at a frequency more typical in the United States — a country far larger and far more violent."
Time to mock American police for being militarised
FIRST READING: Canada effusively welcomes rejected Somalian referee, before realizing alleged terror ties - "After a Somalian World Cup referee was turned away by U.S. border security, Canadian politicians immediately extended a hearty welcome for him to come officiate in Canada. Only after Canadians had rolled out the red carpet, however, did it emerge that the referee, Omar Artan, was rejected because of alleged terror ties... it would only take a few hours until Somalia's largest single terror group appeared to speak out in Artan's defence. "The case of Omar Artan serves as the latest and most damning proof that American policy extends beyond security concerns to encompass broad ethnic discrimination," reads a statement allegedly issued Wednesday by the Somali terror group Al Shabaab... Al Shabaab has been on Canada's official registry of terror entities since 2010. A description calls it the "strongest, best organized, financed, and armed military group in Somalia," and cites its links to al-Qaida... "In British Columbia, (Artan) would be welcomed and celebrated for his accomplishment. We would be thrilled to have him refereeing games here," B.C. Premier David Eby told a Wednesday press conference in response to news reports about Artan's inadmissibility. "In British Columbia he would be considered gold, not garbage." In the same statement, Eby identified Artan as a "refugee" who had overcome "incredible hardships and persecutions." Except Artan is not a refugee, nor has he ever been displaced from his homeland. He is a resident national of Somalia who came up as a referee for the Somali National League and the Confederation of African Football. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also publicly invited Artan to officiate at World Cup matches in Toronto; the opening game is set for Friday afternoon. "Toronto believes in fairness, inclusion and giving talent the opportunity to shine. He would be welcome to referee here in our city," she said in an official statement, adding "I will be writing to FIFA to let them know he is welcome to referee here.""
If the US rejects terrorists, Canada must welcome them. Only traitor Maple MAGAs disagree!
Multiculturalism attracts terror group recruiters to Canada: expert | National Post - "The recent slew of hate-motivated incidents in Canada had myriad alleged motivations, from Islamism to white supremacy. The terror groups that promote such ideologies were likely drawn to recruit in Canada because of its multiculturalism, says one academic. “Most Canadians are big fans of multiculturalism. We celebrate it. It’s part of our existence,” says Arne Kislenko, a professor of international relations at Trinity College, University of Toronto and in Toronto Metropolitan University’s history department. But, he said, there’s also that friction that exists. “There are some people always that feel left out, so they tend to engage in crass stereotypes.” Recent weeks have seen incidents across Canada: a shooting at a synagogue in Belleville motivated by antisemitism, the arrest of three people in Ontario in separate incidents related to antisemitic and anti-Muslim threats made online, the arrest of an Alberta teen in relation to the 764 network, which is classified as a terrorist group in Canada, the arrest of a man in Quebec for allegedly planning to attack Canadians with chemical weapons, and antisemitic flyers handed out in Belleville nearly two weeks after the shooting. There are currently 89 terror groups listed in Canada, including Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Proud Boys and the Bishnoi Gang. Kislenko said it’s no different than Germans in the 1930s. Despite some of them being highly educated, they started to think that Jewish or Slavic people “were somehow not human or that they had evil designs.” Today, there’s a similar sentiment of placing blame on others, he said. Another reason why terror groups might recruit in Canada? From the outside, at least, it appears to be an “easygoing” society. It’s “safe place” where they can operate. One way recruiters acquire targets is to find someone who has made a comment on a mainstream platform, like Instagram or Twitter. Recruiters from terror groups with similar ideologies to whatever post the person commented on then bombard them with messages. Eventually, the person may be put in contact with like-minded people, who might recruit them. “We saw that with ISIS. It’s super sophisticated, targeted propaganda — high-tech recruitment videos with music and the promise of everything you could imagine,” said Kislenko... The young people who do get targeted are often looking for the simplest explanation for complicated issues, said Kislenko. “People blame Jewish people for everything. It’s a convenient scapegoat. Or you blame big government, or you blame women, right? And that’s what a lot of these newer terrorists are engaging in,” he said. “If you’re deeply antisemitic, you’re probably focusing on Israel and what it’s doing in Palestine, even if you don’t know what that means or have an opinion about it. You see it on the news, and certain narratives play into that.” Findlay said that although it may seem like there are more hate-motivated attacks now, it’s been going on “for a long time.” “How it manifests and how it channels and how (terror groups) establish their reach obviously has changed because of the advent of technology from the 1970s roughly onward. It has really made everything look like it’s happening more often in a way,” she said. “And (terror groups) really do attach to waves of prosperity and economic decline, as well as the rise of conspiracy theories. They follow trends. When things are not looking so great … these things kind of seem to flourish a little bit more.”"
Why Sweden is abandoning its cashless society - "Sweden was predicted to become entirely cashless by 2030. As the country developed its own mobile payment system, called Swish, banks slowly stopped handling cash, and tills disappeared from shops. With cash circulation the lowest as a share of GDP in the world, Swedish progress was lauded, and observers wondered how it had forged so far ahead of the rest of Europe so quickly. It all changed when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Realising that reliance on an electronic payment system left Sweden vulnerable to blackouts or sabotage, the Riksbank – Sweden’s central bank – urged civilians to keep 1,000 Swedish kronor (£80) per adult at home. The government issued a brochure entitled “If Crisis or War Comes” to every household, advising Swedes to use cash regularly to “strengthen preparedness”... In July, the bank announced that essential shops such as grocers and pharmacies with staffed checkouts had to accept physical cash... only 5 per cent of shoppers said they had paid cash for their last in-store purchase in 2025, compared with 10 per cent in 2023 and 40 per cent 15 years ago. This fits the Nordic model. Only 2 per cent of Norwegians and 8 per cent of Danes reported using cash for their most recent in-store purchase, a Riksbank survey from the end of last year found. In the euro area, cash is still the most common method of payment in shops... The country takes inspiration from Ukraine, which rapidly adapted to a new digital system under war conditions. Statistics from the National Bank of Ukraine show that nine out of 10 transactions are cashless, raising the question of whether a return to cash is the answer... almost half of respondents in a survey from September 2025 considered the decreasing use of cash in Sweden as a “somewhat” or “very negative” development."
Allie ✞ on X - "It's funny to me how many "biohacks" there are to replace going outside
-Sunrise lamps and red light and vitamin D for the sun coming up
-Blue light glasses for it going down
-Ice baths for cold exposure
-Saunas for heat exposure
-"Grounding mats" for...literal ground
-Cooling mattresses to replace nighttime cool
-White noise machines because our houses are so quiet
-All sorts of air purifiers because we won't open the windows
All of these are fine supplements, we can't live outdoors, but perhaps we're indoors too much if we have to spend THIS much time, money, and effort tricking our bodies into thinking we're outside"
Ryan Boger on X - "You could probably null in void the entire biohacking industry with like one sentence about how people should drink water, eat more vegetables and go to bed earlier"
Sometimes the ones who resign are the ones who care the most for the organization. - "those who see the big picture, understand the problems and the possible solutions, but because of their inability to push for the execution of those solutions, are tormented by thoughts of missed opportunities, unrealized potential, wasted resources, and simply what could have been. It's not easy to live with those kind of thoughts and frustrations, and eventually, after much tortuous deliberation, they come to the realization that they can't identify with, relate to, or be part of an organization who doesn't seem to care about solving its problems as much as they do. So they resign."
Meme - ""So, when did you know that she was the one?"
*Busty woman with low cup crop top with 5 cups of beer*"
Meme - "Treat Her With Compassion"
"who let granny wear this?!"
Meme - th_l_t_d_: "Related HBD fact: Indian men have the same grip strength a Polish women."
Leonarda Jonie @Leonarda_Jonie: "My gym is full of Indian men. Great. Now I have to compete with them for the 10-pound dumbbells."
Meme - "Advise for Fellow Indians: Want to get rid of that curry smell before an important interview or date? Hit the sauna. Your curry smell comes from a mixture of garlic, turmeric, and other spices that gradually work their way into your sweat. The harder you sweat, the faster the spices are secreted out. I hit the sauna for days straight before my Microsoft in-person interview and got the job. I'd also recommend getting memberships to DIFFERENT saunas and using one every day. I got banned from my sauna for making it smell like curry."
Meme - "BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP COMPANY"
1 star review: "Went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner and our waiter came over and immediately started doing the shrimp list from Forrest Gump. At first we thought it was funny. Shrimp gumbo, fried shrimp, coconut shrimp, shrimp kabobs, etc. But he just... kept going. After about three minutes I realized he was definitely making some of them up. "Shrimp lasagna, shrimp tacos, shrimp pot pie, shrimp pancakes, shrimp hot pockets..." At one point he said "shrimp on a stick" and then like two minutes later said "shrimp on a bigger stick." This went on for NINE MINUTES. When he finally finished, he asked what we wanted to drink. We ordered two Diet Cokes. We never saw him again."
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (Manager): "We sincerely apologize for your experience. After reviewing the situation with our staff, we discovered that the individual who approached your table was not actually an employee of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. He's actually an ex employee. He was fired and still has his uniform and occasionally comes in to mess with people. I'm sorry your table was involved."
Meme - Alan MacLeod @AlanRMacLeod: "If The Atlantic magazine is doing guilt by association, here's a pic of its owner, Laurene Powell Jobs, with Ghislaine Maxwell."
James Kirchick @jkirchick: "In Defense of Guilt by Association: Judging people by the company they keep is actually a very good determinant of their character. Latest me, for @theatlantic:..."
Meme - *Arwen* "Show me Lord of the Rings' strongest female character"
*Eowyn* "I said, Lord of the Rings' strongest female character"
*Shelob* "Perfection."
Phantom of the opera - 40 years (Sarah Brightman & Michael Crawford) - YouTube
School camp instructor sent photo of private parts to 15-year-old girl, gets jail - "An external camp instructor kept in contact with a 15-year-old student on social media after running a three-day school camp for her secondary school class, despite knowing his company did not allow this. Ilyas Mohd Yusoff, now 24, began sending sexual messages to the girl and asked her to have sex with him, before sending a photo of his private parts to her on social media app Snapchat... He also shared his sexual preferences with her and told her that he would get "aroused" when she threatened him. He also asked her to have sex with him. At all times, he knew she was 15. On May 1, 2023, Ilyas sent the victim a picture of his private parts via Snapchat. He wanted the victim to blackmail him by threatening to leak the photo, as being blackmailed in this manner sexually aroused him, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheldon Lim... the victim had approached Ilyas on the last day of the camp and asked him repeatedly for his Instagram account details. He refused as he knew it was prohibited by his company, but the victim found his profile on Instagram and followed him, so Ilyas followed her back, said the lawyer. As for the messages about sex, Ilyas claimed that he only sent them in the context that they would engage in intercourse after the victim turned 16"
WATCH: Companies ditch four-year degree requirement - "Campus Reform Higher Education Fellow Nicholas Giordano appeared on Wilkow! to discuss how major U.S. companies are dropping their requirement to have four-year degrees. Degrees used to be a ‘golden ticket’ into corporate America, “but then the businesses and the companies realized that the students are not coming in prepared for our workforce,” Giordano said. Colleges have not given students the tools they need to succeed, he argued. “What’s the point of a college degree when you can give students technical skills to do certain jobs?” Companies used to have apprenticeships, where people started at low-level positions and worked their way up, Andrew Wilkow, host of the program, mentioned. “Something is happening in colleges that are making the graduates no longer desirable.” Giordano responded, “It’s because education has lowered standards for the last 30 years. Students have simply been cycled through the system where they haven’t learned how to write effectively, they don’t learn how to communicate with other people.” He further explained that companies are taking it upon themselves to train workers, because the universities are unreliable, as they incentivize laziness. “Companies are saying, ‘We need workers that are actually going to work.’” Gordano concluded. “How are these students going to be able to manage in the real life if they can’t sit there and take a class that’s hard?”"
When you confuse signalling for value added, then debase the signal
Could things get any worse for BBC Verify? | The Spectator - "When Tim Davie, the former BBC director-general, announced the expansion of BBC Verify, the organisation’s external fact-checking branch, last May, he claimed it would ‘nurture trust’ among readers, watchers and listeners of ‘the world’s most trusted news provider’. How did Verify get on? Well, after making misleading claims about racially motivated attacks in the wake of the 2024 Southport stabbings, wrongly claiming that car insurers were charging an ‘ethnicity penalty’ for drivers, and citing a journalist employed by an Iranian news agency owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps for commentary on the conflict in Gaza, the credibility of Verify, as well as its importance, was truly diminished. Less than a year after Davie’s plan to expand the operation, BBC Verify’s live blog was shut down and its role in the organisation minimised. How could BBC readers’ trust in Verify get any lower? On Sunday evening, an investigation from the Telegraph revealed that civil servants had been seconded to and worked on BBC News and BBC Verify stories about small boats, net migration and election debates. The scheme, which took civil servants from the Government Statistical Service, had been running since 2018 and sought applicants to ‘advise on the interpretation and presentation of statistical claims’; ‘help journalists find the right data source and come to conclusions supported by the evidence’; and ‘promote good statistics and statistical thinking to journalists.’... Only after the Telegraph revealed this did the BBC suspend the scheme."