Balderdash: Links - 28th August 2020 (2)

Friday, August 28, 2020

Links - 28th August 2020 (2)

<a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/02/20/zuckerberg-has-staff-blow-dry.html">Zuckerberg has staff blow-dry his armpits before speeches</a>

<a href="https://www.tasteatlas.com/europe/soups">Europe: Soup Map | 299 European Soups | TasteAtlas</a>

<a href="https://www.purewow.com/travel/train-from-oslo-to-bergen">The Train from Oslo to Bergen</a> - "there's no wrong season to take the 308-mile trip... A one-way ticket costs somewhere in the ballpark of $43—depending on the class and when you book. To us, that seems like a very fair price to pay for passage on Europe's most beautiful rail journey."

<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/nhs-staff-can-refuse-to-treat-racist-or-sexist-patients-under-new-rules-11937175">NHS staff can refuse to treat racist or sexist patients under new rules</a> - "Currently, staff can refuse to treat non-critical patients who are verbally aggressive or physically violent towards them. But these protections will extend to any harassment, bullying or discrimination, including homophobic, sexist or racist remarks."
 I guess they can't claim the high ground when condemning healthcare professionals who won't perform practices they believe are wrong anymore

<a href="https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/my-patient-swallowed-fishbone-scans-reveal-something-else-heres-why-her-case-hold-lessons">Scans for my patient's swallowed fishbone found other issues. Here's why the case has lessons for S'pore's healthcare system</a> - "the specialist dropped the bone into the stomach while trying to retrieve it. Fearing that the bone could be lodged in Ms A’s digestive tract, the specialist requested a computerised tomography (CT) scan of her abdomen the following day.The bone could not be seen on the scan and Ms A’s doctor assumed that the bone had been passed out. But the scan also picked up an incidental lesion in her liver.Incidental lesions are usually benign, but they can also be harmful or malignant.Ms A was worried and hence consulted me. I did a multiphasic CT scan of the liver to examine the nature of her liver lesion carefully... Ms A’s liver CT scan also led to the discovery of more incidental lesions... Ms A found it hard to take in what she had gone through. Her swallowing of a fishbone had led to two scans which picked up a liver lesion, a renal angiomyolipoma, a complex renal cyst as well as two small 3mm and 5mm lung lesions.Each of these incidental lesions carries a low risk of developing into cancer. But low risk does not equate zero risk... the Singapore Court of Appeal found a lung specialist negligent in following up an incidental lung lesion in a young woman. She was later diagnosed with lung cancer.Her incidental lung nodule had a stable size over a two-year period, before it turned cancerous.A lesion that does not grow in size does not necessarily mean there is zero risk of cancer, just low risk.One unintended consequence of the verdict was that fearing they would miss diagnosing a cancer, doctors would do follow-up imaging studies on incidental lesions, even if the risk of cancer is very low... Most patients feel follow-up imaging studies on incidental findings cause no harm. After all, it is just like taking a photograph and comparing it with old ones.A CT scan is generally safe. But it does involve a small dose of ionising radiation. Ms A had two scans within a week, and she will need several more scans over the next 24 months.She will end up paying for the scans, taking a cumulative dose of radiation, with little real health benefits from them.If Ms A decides to take up health insurance, she will have to declare having lesions in her lungs, liver and kidney. Insurance companies do not take risk, and Ms A is likely to have her respiratory, hepatobiliary and renal systems excluded from any future insurance.Healthcare resources are finite. If every one insists on doing follow-up scans despite very low risks, imaging facilities and clinics will be stretched.Patients who need CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose actual cancer will have to wait longer for the scans. And real cancer patients will also have to wait longer for their clinic appointments.In the end, healthcare costs are pushed up with little additional benefits to patients or the society... liver and renal cysts are discovered in more than 10 per cent of routine CT scans.Doctors have to ask themselves if an advanced scan is really needed for patients. Would a plain abdominal X-ray suffice for Ms A in search of the dropped fish bone? If the CT scan was not performed, Ms A would be much happier and reassured.As a society, we need to examine the unintended consequences of punishing doctors when rare events or complications occur."

<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s0dkm">BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, The Power of Oil</a> - "In the beginning of the 20th century, when it seems that there were only 2 countries in the world that required you to have a passport if you wanted to enter: Tsarist Russia and the Ottomans. Anywhere else, you could come and go as you pleased"

<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06746-x">Octopuses on ecstasy just want a cuddle</a> - "Like humans, octopuses become more sociable and engaged after a dose of the party drug MDMA... After absorbing the drug, the animals ignored toys, such as Star Wars figurines, that would normally have intrigued them. Instead, the octopuses socialized and spent more time touching one another with their arms than these creatures usually do.The findings suggest that serotonin played an important part in social behaviour in the common ancestor of octopuses and vertebrates, whose branches on the family tree separated more than 500 million years ago."

<a href="https://skift.com/2020/03/02/best-western-a-hotels-anomaly-ripe-for-change/">Best Western: A Hotels Anomaly Ripe for Change</a> - "Best Western Hotels & Resorts last summer asked its North American member-owners to agree to convert the company from a nonprofit to a for-profit enterprise.The members voted it down.It was a disappointment for Best Western’s top management, who believed becoming a for-profit company could help it compete with Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and other major hotel companies. So it goes at Best Western, truly an anomaly in the rapidly changing hotel industry. With one of the longest-serving CEOs in the travel industry, it’s easy to see how 74-year-old Best Western could be perceived as archaic, or even a relic from a Mad Men-era of roadside motels. Privately held, the company is complicated to outsiders, and its unique structure is what may very well be holding it back, say some company executives and industry analysts.Longstanding CEO David Kong saw becoming for-profit as a way for the company to make the types of investments that its rivals are making, which in turn would attract investors and help Best Western grow. Members would have continued to have a stake in the company and maintain their influence... "Over some time, the distance between Hilton and Marriott to Best Western grows bigger and bigger, and it becomes more and more difficult for us to catch up"... Despite the challenges that having a membership-based organization can pose, Kong insists that the model works. The average amount of time that a member stays with the company is 18 years, he said.“Our members are very loyal,” said Kong. “Our members are the only stakeholders in our company. They care more and they’re far more passionate than the typical franchisee … They feel that this is their organization, whereas in a franchisee setup they’re just one of many franchisees and they don’t have that special connection to the brand, therefore they’re not as passionate and they don’t care that much.”Sometimes, though, they have too much passion. Kong readily admitted that.“I can’t say it hasn’t been frustrating, and it’s hard to build consensus when you have a members organization, but in the end, it’s always worked,” Kong said.“Our hoteliers have a voice,” he added. “Sometimes, our strategies take longer to flesh out and implement, but at the same time, because it’s been fleshed out, it’s more on target.”"
 The fact that Best Western despite being a non-profit is not obviously superior to all other hotel chains suggests that Communists are talking rubbish when they blame capitalism and the profit motive for all the ills of the world

<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/andrew-sullivan-when-the-ideologues-come-for-the-kids.html?utm_source=fb">Andrew Sullivan: When the Ideologues Come for The Kids</a> - "The Eurocrats are not doing themselves any favors either. At their party conference last week, the Liberal Democrats invited Guy Verhofstadt, the chief E.U. negotiator on Brexit, to speak of his European vision. Here it is:
 The world order of tomorrow is not a world order based on nation states or countries. It’s a world order that is based on empires. China is not a nation; it’s a civilization. India, you know it better than I do, is not a nation. There are 2,000 nations in India. There are 20 different languages that are used there … The U.S. is also an empire, more than a nation. Maybe tomorrow they will speak more Spanish than English; I don’t know what will happen. The world of tomorrow is a world of empires, in which we Europeans and you British can only defend your interests, your way of life, by doing it together in a European framework and a European Union.
 So many people assume that the E.U. is about internationalism, openness, transcending the old power politics. It is, in fact, a would-be empire, big enough to compete for power in the world against the U.S., China, and the rest. It is an imperial project that sees no value in nation-states. Britain, on the other hand, has already had a real empire and now just wants to govern itself."

<a href="https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/invasive-species/CommonBuckthornBCP.pdf">Common buckthorn</a> - "There is some evidence that common buckthorn is allelo-pathic, producing chemicals that inhibit the growth of other species."
 Chemical warfare!

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/04/mystery-of-lifespan-gap-between-sexes-may-be-solved-say-researchers">Mystery of lifespan gap between sexes may be solved, say researchers</a> - "From humans to black-tailed prairie dogs, female mammals often outlive males – but for birds, the reverse is true.Now researchers say they have cracked the mystery, revealing that having two copies of the same sex chromosome is associated with having a longer lifespan, suggesting the second copy offers a protective effect... But there are also other possibilities as to why the longevity gaps differ in size, including that oestrogen appears to protect the ends of chromosomes from being damaged – a process linked to ageing... both risk-taking behaviour and parental roles also appeared to be important. “For instance, owl monkey males live longer than females and the males play a big role in infant care in that species,” he said, noting such males have two different sex chromosomes"

<a href="https://getpocket.com/explore/item/japanese-fasting-study-reveals-complex-metabolic-changes-in-the-human-body?utm_source=pocket-newtab">Japanese Fasting Study Reveals Complex Metabolic Changes in the Human Body</a> - "the team found 42 different substances whose levels increase while a person is fasting (as well as two that go down), only 14 of which scientists had previously detected in fasting humans. That means they discovered 30 substances the human body produces in large quantities during fasting that scientists didn’t know about.The fact that the body produces all these compounds, write the researchers, indicates that fasting jumpstarts a whole lot more metabolic processes than scientists had ever realized, some of which may have significant health benefits, including antioxidative defense — which may explain its supposed anti-aging effects... In addition to antioxidative defense, which helps protect the body against some of the long-term damage associated with aging, the study’s authors argue that fasting appears to enhance activity in the mitochondria — the powerhouse of the cell.Complicating the picture, the researchers write that the body may actually be producing some antioxidant compounds in response to the dangerous oxidative stress that fasting can cause in the first place... "Since the 44 metabolites account for one-third of all blood metabolites detected, fasting clearly caused major metabolic changes in human blood""

<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/521972/time-spent-eating-drinking-countries/">• Time spent eating and drinking by men and women in OECD countries 2016</a>
 The British eat the quickest. The Americans are among the fastest eaters

<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3045975/foursquare-to-swarm-users-wait-come-back">Foursquare To Swarm Users: Wait, Come Back!</a> - "Almost exactly one year ago, Foursquare split itself in two, quarantining its location check-in features in a second app called Swarm while maintaining Foursquare as an app focused on local discovery. The game-like elements of the original app like the ability to earn badges or become “mayor” of a location by checking in enough times—once central to Foursquare’s identity—alas, got lost in the shuffle.Not everybody was thrilled about the changes. Last night, Foursquare effectively said “We’re sorry” to these dissatisfied users and announced that it would reinstate mayorships and bring back badges in the form of virtual “stickers.”... Data from App Annie shows that Foursquare’s app ranking has declined in recent months and Swarm has failed to capture the hearts and minds of users on the merits of its location-sharing functionality alone."
 All the motivational business stories about disrupting your own business model before others disrupt only look at successful disruptions or unsuccessful hewing to the status quo - not attempted disruptions which failed. Also see: AOL-Time Warner"

<a href="https://getpocket.com/explore/item/my-favorite-beverage-is-a-2-000-year-old-energy-drink-from-ancient-rome?utm_source=pocket-newtab">My Favorite Beverage Is a 2,000-Year-Old Energy Drink From Ancient Rome</a> - "posca. This blend of vinegar and water—and possibly salt, herbs, and other stuff—holds a special place in beverage history thanks to its role as the Gatorade of the Roman army... There probably was something to the Romans’ belief in posca’s health benefits. The drink’s acidity and slight alcohol content would likely have neutralized bacteria, making it safer than drinking straight water. That could have been a big benefit, given that tainted water has been known to ravage armies more effectively than battle. Vinegar was also thought to help stave off that scourge of militaries throughout history—scurvy. (It doesn’t, as it turns out. But Ancient Romans were hardly the only ones to misplace faith in vinegar’s antiscorbutic virtues; as late as the mid-1800s, the US Army rationed apple cider vinegar to troops stationed in America’s southwest during the Mexican War, according to Roth.)"

<a href="https://twitter.com/APStylebook/status/1258768634169757697">APStylebook on Twitter</a> - "We now say not to use the archaic and sexist term "mistress" for a woman in a long-term sexual relationship with, and financially supported by, a man who is married to someone else. Instead, use an alternative like companion or lover on first reference. Provide details later."
 Replies: "Mistress is used quite properly.It’s intended to be tied to gender. That’s the whole point of the word, it describes something in detail, so it can be differentiated from other phenomena.This is the foundation of words and language."
 "Language arises organically. It's not mandated and can never really be even when laws are made to compel speech. People just do things in hiding. Top-down cultural change is gross. It's literally what oppressors do."
 "Beginning to think there is a coven of SJWs whose only job is to scrutinize every English word looking for reasons to be offended. #Powertrip #Scolds"
 "We now say not to use the false term "news" for the press distribution service founded in 1846 in a financial relationship with businesses supposedly desiring accurate information.Instead, use an alternative like #FakeNews or #CorruptMedia on first reference. Details later."
 "We now say not to use the inaccurate term "journalist" for reporters who work for the AP. Instead use an alternative like DNC staffer. Provide details later by Joe Biden."
 "Fine. Whore it is."
 "I'll just stick with "your mon""

<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/illegal-alien-undocumented-immigrant-orwell-would-have-been-proud-705664">From Illegal Alien to Undocumented Immigrant. Orwell Would Have Been Proud</a> - "Vocabulary changes always reflect the agendas of a political debate.The fight over illegal immigration plays out by altering words and their meanings.Take the traditional rubric "illegal alien." The English has been clear and exact for nearly a century: illegal alien (cf. Latin alienus ) was a descriptive term for any foreigner who crossed the US border without coming through customs to obtain proper legal sanction.Illegal alien, then, was a politically neutral, exact, and descriptive term: one used by both the Supreme Court and Internal Revenue Service.But open-borders advocates did not like the adjective and noun because they accurately emphasized both illegality and the foreignness of those arriving into the United States from another country.What followed was a slow Orwellian devolution. Illegal alien initially was reinvented as "undocumented alien," as if the violation became one of simply forgetting (rather than never having) one's supposed legal documents at home.But the noun "alien" still implied arrivals were somehow separate from US citizens by virtue of their illegal resident status. So next the noun changed to immigrant, as if undocumented immigrant gave the impression that forgetful visitors had just strayed innocently across the border.But why need a discriminating adjective at all?So a mere immigrant has sometimes replaced an undocumented immigrant, as if there were now no real difference between coming into the United States legally or illegally. Being against illegal immigration was now seen as being against lawful immigration itself. Finally, why prejudice the immigrant by suggesting that he or she came from another place into the United States–as if this individual were some sort of intruder who thought America was somehow preferable to Yucatan or Guatemala?As a result, migrant is now used without any -in or -ex prefix denoting direction... The deliberate inference is that the impediments of laws, borders, and walls were unnatural and illegal, not the travelers themselves who passed to and fro between. The fault then belongs to the host, who wrongly felt that his home was his own and guests subject to his invitation... What does "sanctuary city" really imply other than a place where advocates of illegal immigration ignore and override federal law to allow illegal aliens to reside, often in violation of the local, state, and federal law?Such no-go sanctuary zones are supposed to channel the idea of religious and political sanctuaries in time of civil war. Sanctuary suggests that bad people chase good people into safe places like churches or monasteries, where even overzealous law enforcement cannot force their noble guardians to seize them.The intent is to invoke something sympathetic and romantic, like Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the sanctuary provided to the hounded Esmeralda by the famous Gothic cathedral, as agents of the state close in on her.Yet a more honest description of sanctuary cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles would be "secessionist cities." They are, after all, defiant state-rights enclaves that argue, in Confederate fashion, that the federal government and our Constitution ultimately have no power over their states'rights pushback... An equally accurate description would be "amnesty cities," places where the consequences of breaking federal immigration law—as well as other criminal statutes—were ignored (but only in the case of illegal immigrants).A sanctuary city like San Francisco or a sanctuary state like California does not believe that the principles of exemption should be extended to any other federal laws or to local or state jurisdictions other than their own.Certainly Bay Area liberals would have a fit if Oklahoma City residents declared that federal gun registration rules did not apply inside their city and thus one could buy and carry a .45 pistol off the shelf. Californians would go ballistic should the entire state of Utah declare dozens of Byzantine workplace statutes to be null and void within its state borders. "Dreamers" is another linguistic contortion that increasingly and by design does not reflect reality... The historian Thucydides warned us 2,400 years ago during the horrific civil war on Corcyra how "words had to change their meanings" to mask the ill intent of particular unpopular political agendas. In George Orwell's two chilling novels Animal Farm and 1984, the totalitarian state erodes the law by changing constantly the names of things as if language can remake reality.In our age, we have witnessed how the Obama administration went to great lengths to downplay the threats of radical Islamic terrorism... Most people further believe that illegal immigration erodes the cherished idea of legal immigration, given that illegal immigration ignores the law, is non-meritocratic, and is becoming less and less diverse. In part open borders reflect a political desire to recalibrate the demography of the American Southwest and thereby empower the Democratic Party and its progressive operatives in government, universities, and the media... the apparent agenda is to keep the border open when the vast majority wishes it closed to illegal immigration. That disconnect requires that language makes the necessary adjustments so that migrants and Dreamers, not illegal aliens, just wandered or were mysteriously brought en masse into America without real borders, certainly not illegally and certainly not at the expense of legal applicants from dozens of foreign countries who wait for years for legal permission to enter the United States"