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Thursday, January 05, 2023

Links - 5th January 2023 (1)

Colby Cosh: What do Obama, Clinton and Sanders have in common? They can't keep their noses out of our elections - "The “best wishes” language is intended to dispel the notion that the tweets are formal endorsements: this did not discourage any news source from declaring that the old U.S. warhorses had “endorsed” Trudeau and the Liberals. And, in fact, it’s clear from the timing of the endorsements that they were besought by the Liberals. Our obligation to believe that they are spontaneous expressions of personal friendship is tested to destruction when we imagine the outcry in the U.S. if Erin O’Toole had endorsed Larry Elder in the late California gubernatorial recall campaign, or made some offhand social-media remark about how Americans should cherish the Second Amendment to their constitution. It is fascinating that American statesmen, particularly ones from a political party that is pathological about the wrong kind of foreign interference in U.S. elections, should consent so blithely to being used as human billboards. It is equally fascinating that Canadian statesmen, living in a country that professes to be paranoid about American political influence, should use Americans in this way. The charm of Barack Obama and the allure (?) of Hillary Clinton seem to be worth more in Canadian currency, in the judgment of Liberal strategists, than any annoyance or ill feeling their intrusion might create.   Obama and Clinton are, of course, mere private citizens at this point — a plea that is not available to Vermont’s independent Sen. Bernie Sanders... Sen. Sanders makes no apology for explicitly “supporting” both Jagmeet Singh and his political party."
Foreign interference is only bad when it stymies liberal aims

Barrister set to strike ‘earned £7,000 more per year as coffee shop barista’ - "A barrister set to strike says she earned £7,000 more per year as a coffee barista than she does now.  Criminal defence barrister, Rosalind Burgin, 28, says she earned around £10,000 in her first year working as a junior.  But while working full-time as a coffee barista she earned around £7,000 more annually – and said it was much more reliable work."

Meme - Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhink...: "Lies my parents told me when I was little: 1) Santa is real 2) The tooth fairy leaves money under your pillow 3) The United States military is fighting wars to defend our country"
Daniel Hinkle @practicepros: "1. I'm Santa, you never complained when you got the gifts. 2. Yes we were such assholes sneaking you money under your pillow. 3. Never once did your mother or I tell you the military is fighting wars to defend our country, that's a boldface lie on your part."
Americans love to hate their parents, claim they were abusive, that estrangement is always the parents' fault etc. Probably because of victim mentality - it's easy to blame everything that is wrong in your life on your parents

Researchers asked a man to pleasure 5 women to find out if squirting contains pee - "Urologists in Japan wanted to get to the bottom of a long-held sex debate — when a woman squirts, is the fluid that is released urine, or something else? To find out, they conducted an experiment that involved injecting an indigo-colored liquid into five women's bladders.  Two of the women were in their 30s, two were in their 40s, and one was in her 50s, and all of them said they had previously squirted in past sexual encounters... After the doctors drained excess urine from each woman's bladder using a urethral catheter, they injected them with 50 milliliters of a blue-dyed saline solution. In another room, women received manual penetration from a male subject the doctors recruited. They instructed the man to use his fingers and penis "in a way to facilitate squirting."  When each of the five women squirted, the doctors saw blue liquid come out of their genital areas in videos that captured the experiment. Their findings suggest the liquid women produce when they squirt comes, at least in part, from the bladder"
The people who get very upset whenever you point out that squirt is pee will not be happy, since all the studies say the same thing

Incel ‘expert’ claims anyone who says ‘triggered’ or ‘based’ is likely part of dangerous extremist group - "A clip of journalist Laura Bates sharing her expertise about “incels” has caused much soul-searching and repentance on Twitter. Founder of the “Everyday Sexism Project,” Bates is one of many impartial experts on the so-called incel (involuntary celibate) movement – typically described as a resentful den of internet-addicted virgins."
Austerity Sucks on Twitter - "very important discussion warning of red flags if someone is using words like "normies", "based", "cucked -- they may be part of an extremist group"
Moral panics are good when propagated by liberals

Meme - "Amazon Customer Verified Purchase
Missing letter!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2020
Absolutely gutted. I've just sat and blown up all the letters to find that the D is missing but been replaced with an extra A. It's my daughters birthday tomorrow and now I won't be able to decorate it as planned! Not happy at all!!!
3 people found this helpful"

Thread by @TripnoticMusic - "- 1995: Disney buys ABC
- 2006: Disney buys Pixar
- 2009: Disney enters 30 film deal with Dreamworks
- 2009: Disney buys Marvel
- 2012: Disney buys Lucasfilms
- 2015: Disney buys National Geographic
- 2017: Disney buys 21st Century Fox
- 2018: Disney buys Hulu
- 2019: Disney releases Disney Plus
- 2022: Disney buys Universal Studios
- 2025: Disney buys Dreamworks
- 2026: Disney buys Sony. Playstation rebranded as Disney Infinity. Playstation Network rebranded as Disney Universe.
- 2028: Disney attempts to buy Warner Bros, Warner Bros says no.
- 2028: Disney, tries to buy WB through shell corporations. WB finds out and gets hostile.
- 2030: Buys Apple. Apple Watch rebranded as the Mickey Watch.
- 2031: The Church of Baby Yoda is the fastest growing religion in the world.
- 2031: Disney acquires a private military, starts corporate espionage on a large scale.
- 2032: Disney storms headquarters of Warner Bros. Few die because of the electronic surveillance provided by the "Apple" products most employees of WB use.
- 2033: Disney buys DC comics. Mickey Mouse is now more powerful than Superman.
- 2034: Disney owns the majority of the copyrighted material. Buys off US, EU, and other major powers to honor unlimited copyright for corporate ownership.
- 2035: Disney buys Microsoft. Disney Universe is now expanded further. Master Chief is now a Disney Princess.
- 2038: In the midst of negotiations, for takeover, Google launches escape craft. Departs solar system. Destination unknown.
- 2040: Counter Disney efforts take place. The War on the Black Market starts.
- 2041: Disney claims that Black Market efforts are headed up by small studios. Starts forced corporate takeovers.
- 2042: "Terrorist" attacks on Disney starts.
- 2045: Nuclear explosion destroys Orlando Florida. Black Market Terrorists blamed.
- 2046: Hollywood turns into a war zone. All releases for the next 10 years are CGI due to die off of actors. Disney "Farms" start to raise next generation of actors.
- 2050: Disney buys the United States of America
- 2051: The Disney States of America is born.
- 2052: Disney nukes Hollywood
- 2055: Disney States of America annex's Canada. South Park, an underground resistance to the DSN, releases an episode on the black market deriding the move. It's #1 most viewed South Park Episode of all time.
- 2056: Creators of South Park are declared Terrorists. Manhunt starts.
- 2057: Mexico resists annexation due to the cartels banding together.
- 2058 - 60: War in Mexico results in eventual annexation. South America becomes hot bed of resistance.
2061: EU integrates into the DSA. Disney State of the World is born.
- 2062: The UK joins DSW. BBC is acquired. Doctor Who is now a Disney Princess.
- 2065: DSW colonizes the Moon.
- 2067: The Moon has its own government under the DSW. The Disney States of the Universe is born
-2069: Mars colonization efforts start. Political prisoners used for the initial efforts
- 2074: The First Mars Civil War starts. Is put down quickly due to orbital strikes
- 2080: Mars colonization finalized. Disney Land Mars is opened.
- 2083: First mission to Titan is sent out
- 2086: Proposal for interstellar mission submitted.
- 2088: Second Mars Civil War starts.
- 2090: The Creators of South Park are discovered to be behind the rebellion on Mars. Pluto Team 6 is sent out and they are dispatched.
2091: Final resistance is quashed. Construction on Deathstar starts.
- 2092: Total annexation of all remaining world governments is successful except for Switzerland.
- 2094: First faster than light travel occurs. Exploration of close star systems starts.
- 2097: Budding civilizations are found. Monoliths are used to "re-educate" the populations. Those planets are Annexed into the DSU.
- 2100: Disney announces new X-Men movie. Marvel fans are excited."

Meme - "Without objective morality, everything is permissible. *Spaghetti with Nutella*"

Singapore’s lost elegance - "Having the air, almost, of a European urban centre, the commercial centre of the municipality had by the centenary of its founding, already taken on the appearance of the “great commercial emporium” its founder, Stamford Raffles, had envisioned of it."

Why food allergies are on the rise - "One large-scale review of hospital admissions data found anaphylaxis cases on the rise in the US, Australia and Europe, among other regions. In the US, hospital visits for food allergy increased threefold from 1993 to 2006. Between 2013 and 2019, England saw a 72% rise in the number of hospital admissions for children caused by anaphylaxis, from 1,015 admissions to 1,746... One theory behind the rise has been that we’re simply more aware of food allergies. But Kari Nadeau, a Stanford University allergy specialist who calls the rise an “epidemic” in her new book The End of Food Allergy, says this isn’t the case. “It's not just because we're getting better at diagnostics, because we're actually not,” she says. “We are becoming more aware of it, but that's not increasing the diagnosis.”  It’s difficult, however, to pinpoint just how much food allergies have risen. Three to four times as many people think they have a food allergy as actually do, making self-reported data difficult to trust. Much of this is because food intolerance and food allergy can be confused. Meanwhile, many countries have no data on food allergy prevalence. Furthermore, the “gold-standard” test for a food allergy – which involves feeding a small amount of the food to the person in question in a clinical setting – is time-consuming, costly, and comes with risks. Nevertheless, looking at data from multiple peer-reviewed sources, Nadeau says that the rate of food allergies worldwide has increased from around 3% of the population in 1960 to around 7% in 2018.  And it isn't just the rate that has increased. The range of foods to which people are allergic has also widened. Peter Ben Embarek works for International Food Safety Authorities Network, a World Health Organisation body that responds to food safety emergencies. “Initially, decades ago, it was only the classical ones: seafood, milk and nuts,” he says. “That has expanded dramatically to a whole range of products now.”  Experts agree that food allergies are on the rise. The question is, what explains it?  One explanation goes by the name the “hygiene hypothesis”, although the phrase itself is now given a wide berth by allergy experts... many scientists now disagree with the theory – and recent research contradicts it. Rook points out that getting the common infections of childhood makes you more likely to have asthma. And experts agree that it is vital to maintain good hygiene to guard against disease.  A more modern interpretation of the hypothesis is that it doesn’t have to do with whether you keep your home clean or not, but rather with whether your gut is encountering different types of microorganisms...   This is one of the reasons that there could be a link between food allergy and babies born by caesarean section: not emerging through the birth canal means that the baby does not ingest the useful bacteria there. In Denmark, it was even proved that the more cats and dogs you have, the less likely you are to have an allergic disorder. Rook coined the phrase “old friends” to describe his theory. Humans' microbiota – the microorganisms of a particular habitat – are slowly changing, he says. Our modern homes, with their biocide-treated timber and plasterboard, have microbiota that bear no relation to that of the outside world in which we evolved. We are therefore meeting fewer of the friends – the microbes of old – that helped our immune system respond to foreign substances. This may also be why, for example, there is good evidence that the more antibiotics someone is given as a child, the more likely they are to have a food allergy; the antibiotics kill the healthy bacteria that colonise our gut... another fascinating theory is dual-allergen exposure.  To explain dual-allergen exposure theory, it is worth exploring a detour into the way that food allergy advice has changed over the years. “When these food allergies started appearing [in the 1990s], people got very worried about people introducing peanut into babies' diets,” says Clare Mills, a professor of molecular allergology at England’s University of Manchester. “And we actually ended up with guidance that said, 'Don't give these foods to your baby until they're three years old'.”  This advice, she says, wasn't really based on any evidence. In fact, parents should have done the very opposite: introduced allergenic foods as early as possible. The reason is that just because an infant does not eat peanuts does not mean that they won't encounter people who have. The child can be exposed to peanuts through dust, contact with furniture, and even creams containing peanut oil. If the child has not eaten peanuts, this contact with the skin can trigger a response from their immune system.  “If you've got a little infant with early-onset eczema and the parents are eating peanuts without washing their hands and then handling the baby, the baby can get sensitised through the broken skin,” says Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK. When the child then eats the food, the immune system perceives it as a threat and attacks. Nadeau has turned this wisdom into a memorable rhyme: “Through the skin allergies begin; through the diet allergies can stay quiet.”   This is why, especially for children with eczema, experts are unanimous: a diverse range of foods should be introduced through weaning from around three or four months of age. “There is this window of opportunity in the early years to establish tolerance,” says Alexandra Santos, an associate professor in paediatric allergy at King's College London. She helped demonstrate through a Learning Early About Peanut Allergy study that introducing peanuts between four and 11 months gave five-year-old children an 80% lower chance of having peanut allergy. It might seem to follow that eating peanuts in pregnancy could protect children even further. But how much the prenatal environment affects allergy development remains unknown...   That food allergies vary according to environment is proven by the absence of peanut allergies in countries where the population barely eats peanuts: the huge EuroPrevall study, which investigated the environmental, dietary and genetic influences on food allergy across Europe, found that peanut allergy in Greece, where they eat very little peanut, was 0%.  Santos says that when people emigrate, they are more vulnerable than natives to food allergies probably because of the difference in their genes. The earlier they emigrate, the more vulnerable they will be. Another factor could be vitamin D."

The Strange Case of Bobby Dunbar - "On August 23, 1912, Percy and Lessie Dunbar loaded up their two young sons and left their Opelousas home for a camping trip at nearby Swayze Lake. That night, four-year-old Bobby Dunbar wandered away from the family’s tent and disappeared...   On April 13, 1913, police arrested William Cantwell Walters near Columbia, Mississippi, in connection with the disappearance. Walters was an itinerant peddler who was accompanied by a young boy the same age and general appearance as Bobby Dunbar. Walters claimed the boy was Bruce Anderson, the illegitimate son of Julia Anderson, a single woman who cared for Walters’ parents in North Carolina. According to Walters, Anderson had allowed Bruce to travel with him. Anderson later confirmed that she had given permission for her son to accompany Walters, but that it was just for a couple of days while Walters visited his sister. Strangely, Anderson never reported her son missing even though Walters claimed that Bruce had been with him for over a year...   Lessie finally recognized some familiar moles and scars and declared that the boy was, indeed, her son, Bobby. A judge agreed, and the family took him home, where they were greeted with a parade and brass band.  Not everyone was convinced, however. Many people around Opelousas were troubled by the fact that Bobby had only been missing for eight months, but the only way his mother could identify him was through moles and scars...   Many years later, Margaret Dunbar Cutright and Linda Traver, the respective granddaughters of Bobby Dunbar and Julia Anderson, set out to solve the Bobby Dunbar mystery. After much investigation, Margaret finally convinced her father, Robert Dunbar Jr., to submit to a DNA test.  The result showed that he was not related to the Dunbars at all; Bobby Dunbar, was in fact, Julia Anderson’s son, Bruce."

Here's What Created the Viral 'Yellow Brick Road' In the Ocean Off Hawaii - "The formation has been officially identified not as a road to Atlantis, but a fractured flow of hyaloclastite rock, which is basically volcanic rock formed in high-energy eruptions. “The unique 90-degree fractures are likely related to heating and cooling stress from multiple eruptions at this baked margin”"

To Save Norway's Stave Churches, Conservators Had to Relearn a Lost Art - "As they did with the ships that carried them as far as Africa and North America, the Nordic builders coated their stave churches with tar to seal and protect the wood from frigid winters, long days of summer sun, and Scandinavia’s full spectrum of precipitation. The special glaze, made from pine resin, took days to prepare in a massive peat-and-wood mound that Ole Jørgen Schreiner, a traditional tar expert, calls a mile. Creating one was a “complex and laborious project” in and of itself... Not every stave church caretaker faces such challenges—at least outside of Norway. Brian Kringen and his wife, Joyce Kringen, serve as codirectors of Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City, South Dakota, one of a half-dozen or so stave churches in North America, built in the 20th century by descendants of Scandinavian immigrants. The church the Kringens manage is a replica of Norway’s Borgund stave church and, while Kringen is familiar with the laborious task of maintaining a protective coat on its multitude of levels and layers and nooks and crannies, he smiles with relief over not cooking down pine resin for days. “We use a product called Woodguard,” says Kringen. “We buy it retail over the internet.”... “We know that, from a purely technical perspective, modern materials probably would prove superior. But then the stave churches would lose their authentic appearance and smoky smell,” Egenberg says. “That is basically what conservation is about, preserving both the material content and the cultural, historical information that the property is a bearer of.”"

Norway’s Radioactive Reindeer - The Atlantic - "Thirty years ago, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster took place, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, which drifted across much of Russia and Europe. Today, Sami reindeer herders in central Norway are still affected by the fallout, as their herds feed on contaminated lichen and mushrooms. As reported by Amos Chapple and Wojtek Grojec, in this story from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Reindeer meat is a mainstay in the Scandinavian diet. The meat from one reindeer currently fetches around $400 for the Sami herders. But only if the deer isn’t too radioactive to eat.” Even though Norwegian authorities enforce a relatively high contamination limit for food (3,000 becquerels per kilogram—compared with the EU limit of 600), some years—even as recently as 2014—reindeer pulled aside for slaughter have to be released back into the wild because they are too radioactive."

Norway and the other happiest countries in the world pay high taxes - "according to the United Nations' latest World Happiness Report, as covered by CBS News, the top 10 happiest countries are:
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden
Those countries have one interesting thing in common: They're all highly taxed. That's not a coincidence, says report co-author Jeffrey Sachs, who is also the director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He tells CBS that "happiness is a result of creating strong social foundations," and that if other nations prioritized "social trust" and "healthy lives," they could also find that their citizens become more content... citizens' satisfaction is related to what they get for their tax dollars, Sachs tells CNBC Make It: "They are happy because these societies are not only prosperous but also with high equality, social trust and honesty of government. They enjoy long paid vacations, zero out-of-pocket costs of health care, zero or low tuition costs and quality public services for all."... The U.S. ranks No. 14 for happiness, significantly lower than its neighbor to the north, Canada."
The Americans are going to be very upset. Presumably the cope is that those are all small, homogenous ethnostates

Oliver Burkeman's Advice for Time Management - The Atlantic - "the typical approach to time management is to seek ways to cram ever more into our finite number of days. But Burkeman argues that this is the wrong way to manage time. Rather than looking outward to productivity strategies and hacks, Four Thousand Weeks encourages an inner shift in perspective. It confronts a series of comforting illusions that many of us hold onto instead of internalizing colder truths: that we will die not having done a tremendous number of things we care about; that every commitment we make to a person, place, or line of work rules out countless others that may fulfill us; that our lives are already ticking away... Oliver Burkeman: We’re living in a world with effectively infinite inputs—emails you could receive, demands that could be made of you, or ambitions that you could have. Getting better at moving through them is not going to get you to the end of them, so the promise of reaching a point at which you feel on top of everything is flawed on a math basis from the beginning. And the more efficient you get, the more inputs you attract. If you get really good at processing email, you’ll get more email because you get a reputation for being responsive on email. The same idea applies elsewhere: If your reputation in the office is that you’re good at getting through work fast, you’re given more things to do... What we’re encouraged to believe by productivity culture is that you don’t have to make those trade-offs. But that’s out of tune with how things really are."

Broke Heiress Cannot Access $12 Million Fortune Until She Gets A Job - "Clare Brown, who lives in Western Sydney's Mount Druitt, is set to inherit a $12 million estate.  However, the inheritance has been frozen by family members and trustees of the 26-year-old heiress' father's will... Clare's cousin, Jimmy, claimed the heiress can 'access all the money [she] likes' if she meets two simple clauses.  He told 9 Now's A Current Affair: "One clause was to get a job. The second clause was to contribute something to society."  However, Clare has refuted the two clauses as being impossible for her to achieve. Clare has argued that she is unable to get a job because she has Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and high-functioning autism.  She also blames National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding cuts for making the clause more difficult to achieve."

Are Canned Foods Nutritious for My Family? - "People who consume more canned foods tend to have a higher intake of fruits and vegetables and a higher intake of nutrients compared to people who consume fewer canned fruits and vegetables... Fruits and vegetables used for canning are picked at peak freshness, ensuring the best flavor and nutrient quality. Canned foods can be just as nutritious as fresh and frozen foods because canning preserves many nutrients. The amount of minerals, fat-soluble vitamins, protein, fat and carbohydrate remain relatively unchanged by the process of canning. But, because the canning process requires high heat, canned goods may have less water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C and B vitamins. However, the heating process that may harm some vitamins can actually increase the antioxidant content. For instance, canning increases the amount of lycopene in tomatoes.   Canned foods are a convenient and affordable way to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet. The process of canning ensures a long shelf life of at least one to five years. This may be beneficial for individuals who often throw away fresh produce due to spoilage."

Thailand legalising cannabis poses more challenges to S'pore's anti-drug stance: Shanmugam - "The easier access to cannabis in neighbouring countries will pose challenges to keeping Singapore drug-free, said Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam on Thursday.  Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis nationwide on June 9. Mr Shanmugam noted that within a week, the drug was everywhere: in drinks, food, toothpaste and cookies.  "The freer availability of cannabis in Thailand, to which a lot of Singaporeans go and from where a lot of tourists come to Singapore, is going to present more challenges"... host Melisa Idris, who also asked how Malaysia's looking into legalising medical marijuana would impact Singapore... Asked about international criticism of Singapore's use of the death penalty, Mr Shanmugam pointed to the thousands of lives saved through the strict rules on drugs."
When you're behind the times. Of course there're people who want to ban tobacco too
I like how his proof that thousands of lives have been saved... is just a bland assertion by him

Meme - "Critics used to criticize Indian singer Daler Mehndi by saying that the only reason his songs were getting popular was because the music videos had pretty women in it. So in 1998 Daler made the song Tunak Tunak Tun and its music video had only greenscreen clones of himself. This song went on to be Daler's most popular song"

Meme - "Doctors in medical dramas when a patient has a mystery illness: i must examine every symptom and run every test! won't rest until i've cracked this case!
doctors irl when a patient has a mystery illness: hmmm have you considered that you're faking it"

Meme - "has it occurred to thomas that he might be the problem"
"surrounded by setbacks. Or, How to Succeed When Everything's Gone Bad. thomas eriskon"
"surrounded by narcissists. Or, How to Stop Other People's Egos Ruining Your Life. thomas erikson"
"surrounded by psychopaths. How to Protect Yourself from Being Manipulated ond Exploited in Business (and in Life). thomas erikson"
"surrounded by idiots. The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood). thomas erikson"

Meme - brittany wilson @sameoldstory: "One disorienting thing about getting older that nobody tells you about is how weird it feels to get a really passionate, extremely wrong lecture from a much younger person about verifiable historical events you can personally remember pretty well"

Meme - Pastor John Hagee @PastorJohnHagee" "If you are not an eyewitness, you are a false witness (Exodus 20:16). If you didn't see it, you shouldn't be gossipping about it."
Mykael Udy @mykael_yuddy: "By your own submission you have just discredited and eliminated the 'Gospels''. In fact, you discredited the entire Bible."

Risks of using SSRI / SNRI antidepressants during pregnancy and lactation - "Treatment of depression during pregnancy and breastfeeding is a controversial issue, as antidepressants can negatively affect the developing fetus"
Meghan Trainor Says NICU Nurses Implied Her Meds Caused Son to Be There - "Meghan Trainor spoke out about feeling guilted by nurses while her son was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)"
How do people practise medicine anymore? You're not allowed to say anything because of "stigma" etc

Meme - "People who leave their phones set to military time are fuckin war criminals how do you look at 16:05 and go wow can understand that. fucking bootlickers what's next? you gonna go join the army?? recruit me?"
"americans be like ok i cant count past 12 actually"

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