Liberal MP apologizes for linking Poilievre to Winnipeg shootings - "This is the second time in two months Hardie has apologized for his behaviour on social media. Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman called Hardie "unhinged" in her own social-media post on Monday, pointing to another post last month in which he said Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels would be proud of Conservative MPs. Hardie deleted the post and issued an apology in the House of Commons."
Malls with a Cheesecake Factory do better than those without - "Call it the cheesecake factor — the presence of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant in a mall is an indicator of the mall's financial health, a new paper all about malls from Moody's Analytics finds. By the numbers: About 93% of loans backed by malls with a Cheesecake Factory are current on their payments; compare that to around 72% of those without the restaurant. Zoom out: The presence of certain stores within a mall — like a Lululemon or an Apple store — can be "an unscientific measuring stick for the prospects of one mall over another," writes Matt Reidy, director of CRE economics at Moody's."
Architects are cutting big holes in the middle of skyscrapers and adding more floors to turn empty NYC offices into apartments - "With both Water Street projects, Vanbarton and their partners took especially dramatic measures to turn the modernist skyscrapers into livable spaces. This included cutting holes in the center of the buildings, adding new floors, and replacing all of the windows. At 180 Water Street, the architects designed a 30-by-40-foot courtyard in the center of the building to bring light and air into several apartments and mechanical spaces. They also built new floors on top of the building to make up for the lost square footage and added a pool, roof-deck, gym, and other amenities. At 160 Water, they cut three central "blind shafts," or voids, that run the height of the building to eliminate space that was too far from windows to be usable but not big enough to be turned into a courtyard... Several underground floors will be used for a gym, a spa, and a bowling alley — spaces that don't necessarily need natural light... In both buildings, all the windows had to be replaced with ones that can open. Another major intervention involved upgrading all the heating, cooling, ventilation, plumbing, and other mechanical systems to meet current energy-efficiency standards."
High-income Americans rarely mix with poorer people. Restaurants like Applebee's and Olive Garden are the exception. - ""The most socio-economically diverse places in America are not public institutions, like schools and parks, but affordable, chain restaurants," Massenhoff and Wilmers write... Broadly, Americans are pretty isolated by class. The researchers find that the wealthiest Americans are far and away more likely to encounter just similarly high-earning peers, meaning that the rich hang out with the rich. And isolation across class is more pronounced in urban and suburban areas. This socio-economic isolation has grown even more stark since the pandemic... The researchers laid the blame in part on the rise of remote work and online shopping in helping keep Americans in their own neighborhoods... Other businesses, like pharmacies, grocery stores, and gyms, or public institutions, like parks, schools, and libraries, are not as diverse, as they tend to serve the people in their immediate vicinity, the researchers found. A higher-income person is more likely to meet a lower-income person at a fast food restaurant like McDonald's or Wendy's. However, it's not a reciprocal effect since those restaurants tend to see much more of the latter. At somewhere like Panera, poorer Americans are more likely to meet non-poor Americans, but not the other way around. As the researchers note, all of that could mean rethinking policy situations for getting Americans from different income brackets to socialize, especially as some areas prioritized cutting back on the number of chain restaurants they allow. After all, research from Harvard economist Raj Chetty has found that being friends with higher-earners is key to your economic mobility — but many lower-earning Americans make friends based on proximity. That's why cross-income areas for socializing are important. You might just meet that rich new friend at Chili's."
Indian Expat From PwC Gives "Advice to People on How Bad Singapore is Overall” - "Indian Expat working at PWC Singapore Digvijay Pandey (@itsanopenaccount) has been using his Instagram to publish videos criticizing Singapore. He made a series called “de-influencing Singapore” complaining about how everything is too expensive. He also tells his viewers that “Singapore is boring”, “Reasons why you shouldn’t waste money visiting Singapore or it’s tourist spots” and “giving advice to people on how bad Singapore is overall”... Instead of trying to fit in and appreciate Singapore, he repeatedly uses his race, while complaining that other people are racist. He repeatedly highlights that he “just want(s) my(his) Indian brothers to excel at everything they do”. Only selectively wanting Indians to do well, isn’t that racist in itself?"
Meme - "EXPLORE THE TASTE
Cream of Aborigine Soup
This dish is suitable for: vegans"
DEAR VEGANS: killed this cow because it was eating your food. You're welcome.
Meme - "RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS: Feeding Bacon slices to our Vegan neighbors toddler, through the mail slot."
Meme" - PETA @peta: "A fish's life is just as valuable to them as yours is to you."
greg @greg16676935420: "How come fish can eat other fish but we can't eat fish"
PETA @peta: "If you're against sexual abuse, then you should also be against dairy." *164 likes*
greg @gregi6676935420: "If the frog of shame gets more likes than the original tweet, then your tweet really sucks" *3,896 likes*
PETA @peta: "The ocean called, and it wants you to stop eating fish"
greg @gregi6676935420: "The ocean is literally water and doesn't have the capabilities to make a phone call so I'm calling complete BS on this. Please step in @CommunityNotes"
PETA @peta: "If you have an issue with calling vegan milk "milk", then call cow's milk what it really is: bovine mammary secretions."
greg @greg16676935420: "I prefer to call cows milk "delicious""
PETA @peta: "If you wouldn't give your kid a cigar, you shouldn't give them meat."
greg @greg16676935420: "Meat is delicious and cigars are disgusting though"
PETA @peta: "Eating a fish is just as wrong as eating a cow."
greg @gregi6676935420: "What do you call a fish with no eyes? Delicious."
PETA @peta: "Supremacy is at the root of why people think it's okay to eat other animals"
greg @greg16676935420: "False. Taste is the root of why people eat animals."
David Hogg 🟧 on X - "If you need a license to kill deer why don’t you need one to kill humans?"
When you don't understand what self-defence is
Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg is going to Harvard after getting a reported 1270 on the SAT — it shows test scores aren't everything
That is certainly one interpretation
The Mediterranean Diet Only Works for Rich People, Study Says
High adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with cardiovascular protection in higher but not in lower socioeconomic groups: prospective findings from the Moli-sani study
The p-value for the interaction between diet and SES was 0.042, so maybe it was just SES (or some other correlated variable) that was protective. The researchers also note it may be due to more fish and less meat
Meme - "Even lawyers don't know everything about the law. Whenever you see a news story about one of the following legal topics, you'll be right more than 95% of the time if you make the following assumptions (list assembled by Ken White)."
NOHat @Popehat: "1. It's not RICO.
2. It's not sedition.
3. It's not treason.
4. It's not a fire in a crowded theater which isn't a thing anyway.
5. It's probably not incitement.
6. It's probably not a true threat.
7. It's not a HIPAA violation.
8. Or a HIPPA violation."
Meme - Berkeley Bowl: "We have been informed that the agricultural cycle of nuts and legumes is NOT what this month is about and we are deeply, profoundly sorry."
Berkeley Bowl @BerkeleyBowl: "What do you mean #NoNutNovember? Nuts (and often legumes) were traditionally a late-Autumn crop until agricultural advancements made them available year-round!"
Meme - josie duffy rice @jduffyrice: "one funny thing about people who have self-diagnosed their various mental health issues (thanks tik tok) is that it's always like, "i have adhd and anxiety!" never "i think maybe i'm a narcissist"
just conveniently scrolling past the videos that would force you to question whether or not you're the deep-down-good person you think you are!!!!"
D A N N Y 🪂 on X - "Eventually you will find someone who is obsessed with you and wants all your time. That person is your manager at work"
Meme - "My grandma is pregnant. She's only 46 so we were pretty excited at first, but now she's claiming my husband is the father. I don't know what to do. He does spend a lot of time "helping" at her house. I can't believe he'd plow my granny though. We have to wait months for a paternity test. If it's his, would the baby be my aunt/uncle and step child? It's also worth noting that my husband is both my brother and my uncle and my grandma is his grandma too, and also his ex girlfriend. I'm really not sure what to do. And NO this is not a stupid joke. This is serious so please refrain from rude responses."
Meme - "Is British food really that bad?"
"If made correctly; yes."
Meme - "I love ripping the fishnet stockings off the slooty little oranges."
Keywords: slutty little oranges
Why black widows bite so many men in the "junk" - "black widows probably don’t deserve the terrifying reputation they’ve garnered in the U.S. Yes, they have powerful venom which attacks the nervous system and can cause incredible pain for hours or even days, but it rarely kills. Not only is there no record of anyone dying from a black widow bite dating back to 1983, the vast majority of bites don’t even require medical attention. Moreover, black widows aren’t especially aggressive, lashing out only when threatened or if their web is disturbed by an invader... In keeping with their name, black widows mostly bite men — not because they bear any innate resentment toward them, but because men have historically been the ones to accidentally disturb their lairs. Black widows typically sling their webs in dark places: basements, woodpiles, garages, underneath decks, outhouses — areas men historically visit much more than women, as they tend to perform more outdoorsy, physically demanding work. Outhouses likely presented the most peril... Statistics from decades ago support this cringe-inducing narrative. As Padgett discovered in her literature research, the majority of serious bites were on penises. Now that indoor plumbing is the norm and cleaner portable toilets have replaced unkempt outhouses, this painful scenario is far rarer. But its specter still lends credence to common wisdom: Never go number two in an outdoor toilet unless absolutely necessary."
Meme - "MARGARINE is is one molecule away from plastic and shares 27 ingredients with paint. Bon appetit!"
"And you're 1 chromosome away from Down syndrome"
Crémieux on X - "Amazing. A while back, it was found that, among Russian ministers, obesity and corruption were associated. Then it was found that, across countries, corruption and public officials' BMIs were associated. Now, an anti-corruption campaign inadvertently reduced officials' BMIs!"
Ontario’s road salt addiction ruining environment: experts - "The salt-ernatives to road salt being tested in cities across Canada may read like a bizarre shopping list, from beet juice and cheese brine to kitty litter. And yet, even these substitutes have their flaws, experts say. For example, abrasives like sand and even cat litter are often used when the weather gets too cold; Calgary still uses salt in the fall and spring, for example, but will apply a mix of mostly gravel with a sprinkling of salt when in colder temperatures. This means they won’t have as much salt runoff, said Krantzberg, but the tradeoff is it’s unable to melt the ice. Other jurisdictions like Halifax mulled using beet juice, cheese brine and molasses to supplement their salt use over winter, but these are far from perfect as well, Jackson explained. The organic liquids can harbour bacterial growth, which when introduced to water systems, could starve them of oxygen, he said. “It might be trading off one problem for another.” Chemical alternatives to salt, like calcium magnesium acetate de-icer, has also been contemplated. But, according to the spokesperson for Ontario’s Environment Ministry, “some studies have found that these alternatives are more toxic. More research is needed to ensure we do not replace one harmful substance with another.” The best way to limit road salt’s impact isn’t by replacing it with another, potentially more harmful substance, but to limit our own use, Jackson said. The province — and especially individuals and businesses — are likely using far more salt than they need, he continued."
Do people actually regret not having children? Possibly not - "researchers from Michigan State University found that one in five adults in the state, or about 1.7 million people, didn’t want to have children. This was followed up with another study, published earlier this month, which looked more deeply at people who are childfree by choice. Turns out they’re all pretty happy with their decisions. “[W]e found no evidence that older child-free adults experience any more life regret than older parents,” Jennifer Watling Neal, the co-author of the study, said in a statement. “In fact, older parents were slightly more likely to want to change something about their life.” This isn’t the first study to suggest that it’s the people who have kids who might be the ones who end up regretting their life choices. YouGov data from 2021 found that one in 12 British parents (8%) say they currently regret having kids. Younger parents aged 25 to 34 (one imagines the most sleep-deprived group) were the most likely to feel regretful, while those aged 55+ were the least regretful. Similarly, a 2013 Gallup survey found that around 7% of American parents older than 45 wouldn’t have any kids if they “had to do it over again”. And parents seem remarkably unhappy in Germany: a 2016 YouGov study found 19% of German mothers and 20% of fathers say that if they could decide again, they would not want to have any more children. Saying that you regret having kids is still massively taboo but, in recent years, it has become a more prominent topic of conversation and the subject of regular newspaper features. There’s a Facebook group called “I Regret Having Children” which has 59,000 followers and an increasing amount of scholarship on the subject. In 2015 Israeli sociologist Orna Donath caused a number of headlines with a book called Regretting Motherhood: A Study, based on interviews with 23 women"
Weird. We're told that no one regrets having kids
New Zealand feral cat-hunting contest for kids is scrapped after backlash - "Organizers of a New Zealand hunting contest are pawing their way out of controversy after canceling an event that would have seen children 14 and under compete to kill the most feral cats. The North Canterbury Hunting Competition is open to both kids and adults, and aims to manage invasive species and raise money for local causes — specifically, a school and pool in the rural village of Rotherham... they warned that anyone who produced a microchipped cat — meaning one that belonged to someone — would have their entire entry disqualified... the school and others involved had gotten "vile & inappropriate emails and messages," and stressed that the hunting competition is run independently by volunteers and for an important cause... A pest controller told the news outlet Stuff last year that feral cats were at "plague" levels in Canterbury... feral cats have reduced Grand and Otago skink populations to critically low levels in the Central Otago district and decimated populations of endangered kakī/black stilt, wrybill and black-fronted terns in the central South Island. Helen Blackie, a biosecurity consultant who studied feral cats for two decades, told Radio New Zealand that they were responsible for killing up to 100 million birds across the country every year. Feral cats also carry toxoplasmosis, a common cause of contagious abortion in sheep. "Historically, we know that feral cats were responsible for the extinction of six bird species and are leading agents of decline in populations of birds, bats, frogs and lizards," Blackie said... Without a national effort to reduce the feral cat population, regional councils can only introduce piecemeal local measures and the Conservation Department can act only on public conservation land, according to charitable trust Predator Free New Zealand. New Zealand does have "Predator Free 2050," a federal plan to eliminate its most pressing predators: rats, stoats and possums. There are calls for cats to be added to that plan, a politically contentious issue."
Screw native wildlife
Meme - "Family dollar Did not get you Pregnant so don't Steal our pampers"
Leicestershire librarian 'feels sorry' for PM over book backdrop - "A former school librarian has said she "feels sorry" for Boris Johnson after a book display intended as a message to her former employers ended up making waves on social media. The titles - which included Roald Dahl's The Twits - were spotted behind the prime minister during a visit to Castle Rock School in Leicestershire. Some suggested the display was a mischievous dig at Mr Johnson. The school said the library "stocked a wide range of texts". "It was a message for the management team, not for Boris Johnson. I did feel sorry for him," said the 48-year-old librarian from Leicestershire, who wants to remain anonymous. She said she had left the Coalville school six months ago after requests for more support in the library were not acted upon and admitted displaying the titles along the top shelves during her last week at the school in February. The books that were visible behind the prime minister included Fahrenheit 451 - a dystopian novel about a society where books are banned - as well as titles including The Subtle Knife, Glass Houses, The Resistance and Betrayed. "It pleased me and gave me a bit of satisfaction that I was sending a secret message to management. I didn't expect them to notice or work it out," the former librarian added. She said she could not have predicted that, six months later, the prime minister would make a speech using the library as a backdrop."
Meme - "Giving money to beggars is not an expression of compassion so much as a reflection of your gullibility. Normal people contribute to charitable causes. Idiots contribute to an increase in beggars. Are you normal? Prices subject to change according to customer's attitude. If you’re arrogant, grouchy, irritable or just a pain in the arse, there’ll be a RM20 charge for putting up with your shit"
From Johor
Restaurant with 'screaming children surcharge' says it has yet to impose fee on guests - "A restaurant that has imposed a “screaming children surcharge” said that it has yet to impose the fee on any guests and that there have been fewer complaints about misbehaving children since the implementation of the dining policy. In response to CNA’s queries, Angie’s Oyster Bar and Grill along Outram Road said on Wednesday (Sep 21) that parents have also been “a little more mindful and also make a greater effort to ensure their children are not disturbing other patrons”. The restaurant implemented the surcharge “a little over a month ago” following increasing complaints from diners... Angie’s said the restaurant had received “an increasing number of complaints of children running around unattended or disturbing other people during the service period”. “Not only is this dangerous as servers are often moving around with hot food and sharp cutlery, but it is also disrespectful to other diners who may wish to dine in a quiet and comfortable atmosphere,” it said."
Will Manidis on X - "discovered a buddy from college gaslit himself into loving running by applying a nicotine patch everytime he ran, and only when he ran on his fifth marathon"
"That's not gaslighting. That's pavlovian mechanics."
A “Hymn to Him” - "the satiric frame of My Fair Lady makes Higgins’s masculinity more tolerable, but not any gentler. This soft-boiled masculinity is perhaps most prominent in Higgins’s ambiguous sexuality, called into question by his mannerisms, dismissive treatment of Eliza, and homosocial exchanges with Pickering. Considering Higgins through the framework of Kimmel’s and Bridges and Pascoe’s scholarship reveals a gap in his masculinity, a characteristic he is missing that sets him apart from the male leads of other musicals. Kimmel highlights the “relentless test” of masculinity (41) and the simultaneity with which a “boy becomes gendered (masculine) and heterosexual” (31). Linking these two ideas, Bridges and Pascoe argue that “masculinity entail[s] repeatedly signaling power, competence, emotional stoicism, heterosexuality, and dominance” (415). Henry Higgins possesses and relentlessly tests all but one of these qualities: his heterosexuality. Higgins’s sexuality is unclear and scarcely acknowledged even in earlier incarnations of the show (including the popular 1964 film) that were more suggestive of a love story between Higgins and Eliza. To make sense of Higgins’s ambiguous sexuality, we turn to what Bridges and Pascoe call “sexual aesthetics:” the “interests, material objects, styles of bodily comportment, language, opinions, clothing, behaviors, and more . . . [that] allow us to put our sexual identities on display—even when we are not being ‘sexual’” (418-419). It is notable that Higgins practices certain gay aesthetics. His self-imposed status as a lifelong bachelor is a quality typical of contemporary closeted gay men. In the song “An Ordinary Man,” his serenely spoken, measured phrases of quiet, solitary life are interrupted with chaotic orchestrations as he exclaims over the horrors that come when you “let a woman in your life!” Perhaps his exclamations express a dismay not only at the nature of women but at the social expectation that he should be in a heterosexual relationship with one. This potential gay aesthetic is often overshadowed by a musical theater audience’s expectation for a romantic or sexual connection between Higgins and Eliza."
