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"
Addendum: The reply will be "okay, boomer"

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"

Links - 4th January 2023 (2 - Trans Mania [including Sex as Binary])

On the Blowback to "What is a Woman?" and the Difference Between Debate and Bigotry - "After publishing a review of Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman? this week, the expected avalanche of blowback from activists and even a few friends did arrive. Most went straight to the word “bigot,” while others decried “platforming a fascist.”... some seem to feel that laughing when a professor is caught calling “truth” transphobic is equivalent to supporting genocide... I’ve probably interviewed twenty people in this field, usually over speech issues. These ranged from a trans activist who screamed at me before the first question... to others like Dr. Kenneth Zucker, who for 35 years headed Canada’s Gender Identity Clinic. I’m obviously no expert in the field, but I do know about media, and the Zucker case was a clear example of press malpractice. It also showed how a dynamic one colleague tabbed the “either TERF or saint” formula has become a mandatory coverage template.  Zucker’s name is radioactive in the trans community. In fact, one of the supposed sins of writer Jesse Singal, as listed on his Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) “Accountability Project” page — his blacklist entry — is that he “wrote a defense in 2016 of Dr. Kenneth Zucker,” who supposedly believed in “conversion therapy.” It should be noted that soon after that “defense,” Zucker won a $586,000 settlement in a civil suit in which it was admitted that Canada’s largest mental health center “published a report that erroneously described [Zucker’s] interactions with patients.”  GLAAD, supposedly an opponent of “defamation,” still cites that defamatory report... I had been led by articles to expect a pushy reactionary. I instead heard the story of a person who a) had been the first clinician to use puberty blockers in North America, and b) had a record of advocating for what one today might call “gender affirmation” therapy for adolescents...   I have not been able to find evidence of Zucker ever suggesting he believes transgenderism needs to be “cured” — he clearly believes otherwise, as he’s said and as his long career demonstrated — or that his vision of therapy is to achieve a “cisgender goal.” Yet a person reading that Guardian piece, or the GLAAD page, or a PinkNews piece with a headline reading, “BBC documentary features doctor who tried to ‘cure’ trans kids,” will come away thinking those are his words. I can see legitimate disagreement with Zucker, but there is no reason I can think of why a legitimate movement would need to resort to such sleazy reputation-bashing tactics... on Useful Idiots with Katie Halper, I interviewed Dr. Erica Anderson, a trans clinician who has vociferously opposed Republican legislative bans on trans care and “worked hard to advance acceptance of trans identities.” Anderson is also now in the soup for writing editorials advocating more “gender-exploratory therapy” and raising concerns about what she calls “worrisome things about this massive, unplanned social experiment.”... Anderson expressed opinions that shouldn’t be controversial but somehow were, like “We don’t affirm all choices of all minors without exception.”... Before this issue became a hot-button, front-page fixation of popular media, activists, clinicians and trans patients worked for decades to secure rights and come up with reasonable standards for care. In place of those sensible debates, the public is now being asked to swallow a series of bold new assertions, like that peer pressure is a “myth,” biological sex is a fiction, Lia Thomas doesn’t have an unfair advantage at swim meets, and the clinical decision to wait and observe is not doing nothing, but a form of active intervention called “withholding treatment” or “conversion therapy.”... This is one of the reasons What is a Woman? was effective. Walsh in the video above asks Dr. Michelle Forcier if he’s safe assuming a chicken is biologically female if he sees it laying eggs. To which Forcier responds, “Does a chicken cry? Does a chicken commit suicide?” Walsh bites his lip in the middle of a sentence everyone is thinking, which is, “What does that have to do with anything?” Forcier’s is not a scientific answer, but we’re expected to show unflinching acceptance in moments like this.  One trans person I’ve known for years wrote me yesterday complaining that Twitter activists and theorists are “destroying the progress we’ve made,” recalling days when the chief issues were things like, “Access to employment. Health care. Transition costs covered by health insurance. That makes sense… Acting indignant when people don’t live up to Tumblr gender theory is not.”  Worse, the package of current social media fixations adds up to a political project that is almost guaranteed to lose in the end.   “Getting rid of the role of the WHO standards for access to surgery and HRT and doing it over the counter? It’s just fucking crazy,” the person wrote, adding: “Everyone who has challenged this version of the community has been excommunicated… It’s morphed into something that’s just an unsellable message to a mass public”...   No parent is going to respond any way but in the extreme negative to a suggestion that they might need to be cut out of discussions about their child’s development. When I did a series about education controversies at Loudoun County, proposals by schools to keep student gender identity changes secret from parents were near the top of the list of complaints among both blue and red voters I interviewed. This is an enormous political and strategic mistake, one I believe is responsible in large part for Democrats losing so much ground on the education issue...  I think minors should take more than a few weeks before signing student loans, much less embarking on hormone therapy. Moreover, I remember being petitioned regularly by leftist activist groups to write stories about Republican politicians who took money from drug companies before approving student mandates for meningitis vaccines or ADHD medication. Activists were desperate for more discussion about issues like that. No activist hesitated then to pull out what Jezebel, in its absurd denunciation of Singal’s trans reporting, sneeringly called the “‘think of the children’ strawman.” About this, it’s the opposite. The less debate, the better. What changed?"
Anyone not on the far left is a Nazi

Jake Caswell wins non-binary race at the New York City Marathon - "Jake Caswell has won the non-binary division at the world-famous New York City Marathon.  This year's race was the first event in World Marathon Major history that the top non-binary finishers earned prize money... Nick Dill, who finished fourth in the race, teared up after completing the event.  “I’ve felt excluded from sports my entire life,” Dill said.  “To show up on race day and be recognised for who you are - and to hear people cheering for who you are - is really special. It makes me really emotional.”  “The marathon itself is one of the greatest examples of inclusivity, diversity, respect, and equality. So [the non-binary] discussion opens the floodgates a lot more,” she said. “In the race, I don’t know the guy over here who is a different colour than me, I don’t know the gender of this person over here—and I don’t care. We're sweaty and stinky together, and it doesn’t matter.”  Jake Fedorowski, who is the creator of The Guide to Nonbinary Inclusion in Running, touched on the importance of non-binary categories to drive inclusivity."
Unsurprisingly, it looks like almost all of them are men
Weird. We keep being told that sex and gender are different, and that those who think they are the same are ignorant and need to educate themselves

The 2021 Australian Census Will Randomly Assign Non-Binary People Male Or Female - "The 2021 Australian Census is being criticised for the way it is approaching gender.  There was outcry when sexuality and genders outside the male/female binary were left off the survey, however it's since been revealed what will happen when you try and input data.  The census will only ask you about your sex (aka your genitals) and won't give you the option to highlight your gender (which can be different to your sex). While it does give you the option to select non-binary, it is under the section of sex and therefore could just be for intersex Australians.  There is a box that allows you to type in gender non-binary, however this apparently won't make much of a difference... "The Census has let us down. What this means is we're basically unable to assess and understand how many LGBTIQ people there are in Australia.  "It's not about being inclusive, it's the right thing to do in the most accurate way to get a sense of how many of us there are, and what we're experiencing."  But the ABS said it has deliberately left gender options outside male and female off the census for a good reason. In layman's terms, it's to avoid a gendered version of the religion question.  Many people thought it was hilarious when they put 'Jedi' down as their religion. However, all it did was skew the actual religious makeup of Australia.  The percentage of atheists versus agnostics versus whatever else has been inaccurate because people were having a laugh.  The same thing would have happened with gender because ignorant people would have listed themselves as an 'Apache helicopter' or something else ridiculous because they don't respect the difference between gender and sex."

Meme - Opheus337: "are there any differences between natal and neo vaginas
there's a lot of variation in vaginas but there's not infinite variation, there are outliers (disfigurement or birth defects) do neo vaginas look and feel like natal ones (excluding disfigurement and birth defects). like is the placement correct, texture, anatomy, etc. can another woman tell it's surgically made, or would that be impossible without medical tools. if they are anatomically correct to the point where it is impossible for someone to tell it's surgically made without medical tools, or inadvertently implying that a large portion of natal vaginas are surgically made (excluding outliers like disfigurement and birth defects) even during sex. where can I get such a surgery. cost doesn't matter if it costs $2,000,000,000 to get a passing vagina I will get it"
"thetitleofmybook Trans Woman
yes, they look and feel like one. any competent surgeon will be able to do a good one. Avoid known bad surgeons (Kathy Rumer, for example). 99.99% of people won't be able to tell a difference. the people who say they can tell a difference have prior knowledge. they are full of shit when they say they can tell a neo from natal vagina."
The delusion is strong

Meme - "The Timmies Under the Stairs @haytimmie: "Terfs are afraid of trans people shopping at Ulta because those haggard haters can't stand how much better we are at makeup."

Meme - "Normal People: Halloween is over, you can take your masks off.
They/Them/Zers: *sad clown*"

Matt Walsh on Twitter - "One really important aspect of the TN legislation banning gender transitions for minors is that kids will now be empowered to sue their doctors AND their parents for butchering them. Parents need to be held accountable for the abuse. And in this state they will be."
"When your OS fails to properly recognize the hardware, you run a driver update, not rip out pieces and try to turn printer into scanner."

Meme - "What teenage girls think they'll look if they take male hormones
How they actually end up looking like"

Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ on Twitter - "SCOOP: Walt Disney Co. recently hosted a "cultural journey" for employees featuring a "Two-Spirit," "she/they," "drag queen," "merperson" named Geo Neptune. The company is following every fad of radical gender theory, from children's programming to pseudo-indigenous pantomime."

CANCELLED: Scholar says there are only two sexes, gets booted out of scientific discussion group - "An email discussion group ran by the American Psychological Association has just cancelled a scholar after the group member discussed the apparently taboo subject of biological sex.  The full name of the supposedly scientific-oriented group is the "Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology Division 6 listserv".  John Staddon, the ousted scholar, is an emeritus professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and recognized academic in the field of behavioral science. He is the author of the book The New Behaviorism. He has also been publicly lauded by Duke's chair of psychology in 2018 for having won an award given out by the same American Psychologist's Association... "This incident just illustrates the current inability of some scientific communities to tolerate dissent about issues related to sex and race. Psychology and sociology seem to be especially flawed in this respect.""

Thread by @zaelefty on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Here are 7 reasons why this sex spectrum graphic by Scientific American is wrong.
1. There are no units on this spectrum to quantify it.
2. The sheer number of overlapping arrows is evidence that sex cannot be plotted on a spectrum.
3. There is no objective method to decide where individual DSDs are placed on the spectrum.
4. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is placed farther to the male end than XX male syndrome, implying that XX males (with fully developed penis and testes) are more female than an XX CAH female with ovaries, uterus, vagina, and a slightly masculinized clitoris.
5. Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is placed in the center, implying that people with this condition are literally in between male and female.
6. Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis is placed in the center, also implying people with this condition are literally in between male and female.
7. In reality, DSDs are singular, discrete conditions, each unique, and they cannot be placed on a continuum between male and female.
A major error in this graphic is the conflation of sex determination mechanisms with sex.  Yes, the mechanisms involved in developing males and females are complex.  That does not mean the end result is complex or that male and female themselves are challenged.  The conflation of how sex is determined vs how sex is defined shows up all the time in discussion on this topic.

Defining Sex vs Determining Sex - "There’s two main reasons why the mechanisms that determine sex (like genes) are not the same thing as the definition of sex.  First, because sex determination mechanisms vary across species and across time, we cannot use them as the definition for the sex of individuals across species.  For example, mammals tend to use the X-Y chromosomal system, whereas birds tend to use the Z-W chromosomal system. Despite this difference in sex determination mechanisms, what unites male birds (ZZ) and male mammals (XY) is that they both develop the phenotypes that produce small gametes. And what unites female birds (ZW) and female mammals (XX) is that they both develop the phenotypes that produce large gametes... Second, because of developmental disorders, we cannot use sex determination mechanisms as the definition for the sex of individuals within humans and across species.  Almost always, the Y chromosome determines sex in humans: those with a Y chromosome develop as males, and those without the Y chromosome develop as females. Males usually have 46:XY and females usually have 46:XX. However, rare errors of cell division during meiosis can result in a translocation or mutation of genes within the chromosomes, and this can result in a sex opposite of what is expected from the chromosomes... Though they cannot produce sperm, since this requires the AZF region from the Y chromosome, XX males are defined as male because they develop the phenotype that produces small gametes (determined by genetics)... this inaccurate logic—that absence of a Y chromosome is always female and presence of a Y chromosome always male—has immense ramifications if used by society.  For example, activists who argue that males can be females and females can be males would love to use this reasoning to deconstruct the definition of sex for sociopolitical purposes, and those who have atypical development may be relegated to categories they do not belong in: people with fully developed, genetically determined male bodies in female spaces and vice versa. Because of this, it’s best we maintain the distinction between the mechanisms that determine sex and the definition of sex.  Males and females are not defined by the mechanisms that develop them in the womb. They are defined by the phenotypes that produce either small or large gametes, respectively. For humans, this is determined by genetics. Defining sexes this way does not mean that sex is a spectrum or that one can change sex. One’s sex is determined at conception by the individual’s genetic profile, developed in utero, and immutable. If we wish to ascertain the full picture of a person’s sex, we must analyze their genetics and their genetically determined phenotype: the structures they develop that support the production and release of either gamete type. This is the only way forward for an accurate and consistent definition of sex."

Meme - Eggen @DrawingEggen: "My brain is boiling! Byond XX and XY ladies and gentlemen"
"BEYOND XX AND XY"
Emma Hilton @FondOfBeetles: "This chart is a futile attempt to pretend sex is a spectrum by taking a handful of DSDs and lining them up in a nonsensical order that in no way reveals a spectrum."
Emma Hilton @FondOfBeetles Developmental biologist. All views are my own. Manchester. Peri-clownfish. Problematic around chocolate. Egeen @DrawingEggen Artist - Illustrator, Writer, Photographer I Animals, Women's Rights, Humour, Education #ProReality I eshop blog"
So much for "trust the science" and "trust the experts"

Meme - Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll: "Actual science would like a word."
"BEYOND XX AND XY"
Jerry Coyne @Evolutionistrue: ""Actual science" done by biologists shows 2 sexes, one with small mobile gametes and the other with large, immobile ones. There is no third sex. Disorders of sex development are not new sexes, and biological sex is binary. Let's not conflate sex, gender & developmental anomalies."
Jerry Coyne @Evolutionistrue: Superannuated evolutionary biologist, writer, humanist, atheist, secularist and ailurophile.
Sean Carroll @seanmearroll Physics, philosophy, complexity."
Keywords: Disorders of sexual development, chromosonal variants, are not new sexes, are not their own sex

Meme - Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll: "Actual science would like a word."
"BEYOND XX AND XY"
"The actual author would like a word."
Dr. Li Qi Huang @martian_mu... "In your piece 'Sex Redefined' are you making the claim there are more than 2 sexes?"
Claire Ainsworth @ClaireAinsworth: "No, not at all. Two sexes, with a continuum of variation in anatomy/ physiology."

James on Twitter - "Intersex are DISORDERS, which freeuently associate serious physical and cognitive defects. Those intersex that are not infertile due to their condition, also produce only one of two possible gametes: male or female. There's nothing more binary than that."
Amazing reply: "Ah yes. Disorders. A category that exists in nature and is totally not a product of subjective societal values that make up our conception of health"

Thread by @fem_mb on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "🧵THREAD: SCIENTISTS SAY SEX IN HUMANS IS BINARY.
1. Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard:
"All mammals have two sexes and man is a mammal. There are people who want to change theirs, but they can't do it. You remain XY or XX."⬇️
2. Genetics professor Dr. Alex Blakemore, Head of Life Sciences at Brunei University:⬇️
3. Dr. Jerry Coyne, evolutionary biologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago:
"Evolution itself produces a binary of sex! To be anthropomorphic, evolution wants a binary of sex."⬇️
4. Dr. Georgi Marinov, Stanford Univ. Genetics Dept:
"The objective truth is that sex in humans is strictly binary and immutable...Denying that sex in humans is binary attacks the very foundations of biological sciences."⬇️
5. Dr. Stéphane Bermon, Director of World Athletics' Health and Science Department:
"Biological sex is not a spectrum."⬇️
6. Dr. Emma Hilton, biologist at the University of Manchester:⬇️
7. Dr. Ross Tucker, exercise physiologist and chief scientist at World Rugby:⬇️
8, Dr. Dave Curtis, UCL Genetics Institute:
"Sex is not a spectrum & is not assigned at birth. There are only two categories, male & female & even if we take account of disorders of sexual development, we can't say it produces anything like a spectrum."⬇️
9, Physician Dr. Will Malone:⬇️
10. Dr. Paul McHugh, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine:
"Sex is well defined based on the binary roles that males & females play in reproduction. Sterility, birth defects, or even purposeful removal of healthy sex organs does not change one’s sex."
11. Biologist and humanist Dr. Richard Dawkins:
"Race is a spectrum. Sex is pretty damn binary. This point really is childishly obvious."⬇️
12. Biologist & Professor of Medicine Dr. Robert Winston:
"I will say it categorically: You cannot change your sex. Your sex is there in every single cell in your body...We are very confused about this, unfortunately."⬇️
13. Evolutionary biologist Dr. Heather Heying:⬇️
14. Biologist Dr. Colin Wright:
"There are no intermediate gametes, which is why there is no spectrum of sex. Biological sex in humans is a binary system."⬇️
15. Four medical doctors (two physicians, a professor of obstetrics & a psychiatrist):
"Humans are sexually dimorphic, with rare intersex conditions being anomalous developments of dimorphic sexual classes. It is not possible to change biological sex."⬇️
16. Neuroscientist Dr. Deborah Soh:
"The concept of sex is, by definition, binary...It isn’t necessary to redefine “sex” in order to facilitate the acceptance of people who are different."⬇️"
So many transphobes denying that trans people exist!

Supernova 💚🤍💜 on Twitter - "Really Erica? DSDs are not sexes. And ambiguous genitalia, for example under-developped penises due to 5-Alpha Reductase Deficiency are not a new sex. They're males for f**k's sake! It's incredibly regressive to think people with DSDs and ambiguous genitalia are not male/female" Meme - (in response to the fact that no one can change sex) Callum Chalmers @CAChalmers: "This is objectively biologically false.
I would challenge the "no-one can change sex" crowd to tell me exactly what sex is."
Emma Hilton @FondOfBeetles: "Sex is the shared biological mechanism by which almost all complex species reproduce. It's is based on a binary system of gametes of two different types, with differently-specialised roles in the generation of new offspring."

Meme - XXY Klinefelter @KlinefelterDSD: "ALL DSDs are sex specific, our conditions affect only males or females only & they endorse the binary of sex. There's is no 'in between' as often suggested by gender queer activists - which is highly disrespectful & dehumanising to the many suffering with having a DSD."

Laid-Off Journalist Trying To Learn To Code Horrified To Discover The Code Is Binary | Babylon Bee

Meme - "So proud of our 12 year old daughter - she's just come out as anorexic! We've suspected since she was 9. The doctor has given her appetite suppressants and agreed to give her liposuction. Her pronouns are I/Hate/Myself #StunningAndBrave"

Why Labour is losing women - "Sometimes it’s difficult to understand why so many feminists continue to feel any loyalty to the mainstream left. A left that, broadly speaking, regards them at best as obsolete old hags and at worst as dangerous fascists. It is remarkable that so many women are being physically harassed by those they would otherwise regard as comrades. And the fact that the Labour leadership hasn’t extended them a sniff of solidarity is telling. It speaks not only of its disregard for the insight and commitment of gender-critical women, most of whom are experienced political activists, but also of the left’s insular and myopic worldview."

Putney tennis club's gender ideology-friendly membership form classes female as 'no longer valid' - "Member Julia Stephenson was reapplying her £300-per-year fees at Putney Lawn Tennis Club when she spotted the change.  She posted a picture of the drop-down menu on Twitter, writing: 'I am renewing my tennis club membership but am confused that my gender, 'female' is 'no longer valid'... the drop down menu can be seen with options for members' sex.  The first option is 'Female (including trans woman)', there is also an option for 'Male (including trans man)', 'Non-binary' and 'Other'.  The final option is 'Female (no longer valid)'...  'So where is the option that says 'Male (no longer valid)?'"

Is facial recognition software transphobic? Controversial tech 'has a gender problem' - "The controversial tech is now so accurate that it can figure out the gender of men or women with little more than a brief glance.  But if that face belongs to a trans person, the systems get it wrong more than a third of the time... Study lead author Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, a PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, said: ‘We found that facial analysis services performed consistently worse on transgender individuals, and were universally unable to classify non-binary genders...   On average the systems were most accurate with photos of cisgender women, getting their gender right 98.3 per cent of the time. Cisgender men were categorised accurately 97.6 per cent of the time.  Trans men, however, were wrongly identified as women up to 38 per cent of the time.  And those who identified as agender, genderqueer or nonbinary – people who do not identify as either male or female – were mischaracterised 100 per cent of the time... ‘When you walk down the street you might look at someone and presume that you know what their gender is, but that is a really quaint idea from the 90s and it is not what the world is like anymore.  ‘As our vision and our cultural understanding of what gender is has evolved, the algorithms driving our technological future have not. That’s deeply problematic.’"
Even if it were a good thing to make algorithmns less accurate, how are they going to do it?
Weird. We keep getting told that sex and gender are different
If even humans supposedly can't tell gender just by looking, how can a machine?

Meme - "1909:
Woman: We are allowed to study now. I wonder, what the future will bring
1919:
Woman: We are allowed to vote now. I wonder, what the future will bring
1977:
Woman: We can work without our husband's permission now. I wonder, what the future will bring.
2022:
Liberal: Define "woman"
Other Liberal: I have no clue..."

Meme - "THE 70'S
I am Woman hear me roar
TODAY
I don't know what I am. Hear me whine"

Most children who think they’re transgender are just going through a ‘phase’, says NHS - "Most children who believe that they are transgender are just going through a “phase”, the NHS has said, as it warns that doctors should not encourage them to change their names and pronouns.  NHS England has announced plans for tightening controls on the treatment of under 18s questioning their gender, including a ban on prescribing puberty blockers outside of strict clinical trials.  The services, which will replace the controversial Tavistock clinic, will be led by medical doctors rather than therapists and will consider the impact of other conditions such as autism and mental health issues...   The proposals say that the new clinical approach will for younger children “reflect evidence that in most cases gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence” and doctors should be mindful this might be a “transient phase”... before medics change a young person's name and pronouns, a teenager should have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria...   NHS England will also “strongly discourage” young people from buying hormones from private clinicians and will not accept clinical responsibility for the treatment of those who have done so."

It’s happening: “LGB drop the T” keeps trending on Twitter as gay activists turn on transgender activists - "the inevitable clash between gay ideology and transgender theory. Transgenderism relies entirely upon the non-existence of a gender binary, assuming a sliding scale of gender identity that denies there even is such thing as truly "male" or truly "female." Needless to say, there can be no gay man if there is no such thing as a man. There can be no lesbian if there is no such thing as a woman. Beyond just that, the transgender movement has brought excess cultural baggage... None of that has anything to do with the original objectives, intents, and purposes of the lesbian, gay, and even bisexual equality movement. And it seems as though there is a growing, and increasingly vocal contingent of those individuals who have had enough"

Rick Westhorpe on Twitter - "The T hitched a ride a few years back, invited itself for dinner, and is trying to make out that it always lived here. It didn't. Pride marches, protests, and LGB rights happened WITHOUT the T. I remember - I was there. I also remember the T wasn't. #LGBdroptheT"

1/4 Gay Merry🏳️‍🌈 on Twitter - "#LGBdroptheT We didnt sign on for this shit. We dont want kids groomed. Not wanting men in our spaces or to have sex with certain genitalia does NOT make us transphobes. We promised it wasnt the slippery slope they feared. You took advantage of our good will. Its gone too far."

Meme - kresh @kreshfallen: "biggest flex is having a bigger penis than cis men while still being hotter than cis women *ugly*"

America’s “Roaring Twenties”: everything you wanted to know

America’s “Roaring Twenties”: everything you wanted to know | HistoryExtra

"‘What did they actually drink in this decade?’

‘Oh, this is such a good question. It's my favorite question. I can answer this question for hours, we could do a whole podcast just on the alcohol of the 1920s... So basically, there are three segments of society. And it's, it's very economically driven. 

Three different things that you would be drinking in the US under Prohibition. If you were rich, you could afford the real thing which you smuggled in and bought on the black market. So you could get real rums, which would come up from the West Indies on sailboats, and come into New York Harbor. You could get real champagne from France, you could get, there was a what they called a pipeline that came down from Canada, you could get real alcohol through Canada - just had to pay through the nose for it. So if you were very, very rich, you could get the real deal, the real McCoy. It is a myth that the real McCoy comes from a bootlegger called McCoy. That is a cultural myth. Nobody knows where the phrase the real McCoy comes from... 

If you were very poor, they drank gasoline, they drank turpentine, they drank, they would literally mix kind of gasoline and water and they drank these incredibly lethal combinations that were sold on the street as bathtub gin or bootleg gin or as moonshine. That's if you were the urban poor if you were the rural poor, you drank homemade moonshine. You drank in the south what they called corn, which was corn liquor, they would literally just put corn into a, into jars and let it ferment in the basement, and then drink it at the end of the, you know, the end of the season. I don't know how long it takes for corn to ferment, but they would, it would ferment for as long as it fermented, and then they would drink corn. And if you were in the north, you would drink wheat based moonshine or grain based moonshine. So you would drink wheat or rye or what, again, you know, if you're in Minnesota and you're growing wheat, then that's, what you would make your, your moonshine out of. So that's the rural poor. Bathtub gin is not the same thing as bootleg gin… 

Bootleg meant black market. So anything could be bootleg alcohol. It just depends if, it just meant that you bought it on the black market. So you could buy the real thing as bootleg gin, you could buy bathtub gin as bootleg gin, or you could buy moonshine as bootleg gin, it all just means you got it on a black market. But bathtub gin was really the drink of the middle classes, and what bathtub gin was was that what you would do is you could get 100% alcohol, you could get, I think it's ethyl. I always mix this up. But ethyl alcohol, which I think is the safe one, the chemists listening will correct me if I'm wrong. I think that's right. Anyway, you could get the safe ethanol alcohol, because chemists were allowed to sell it for medicinal. I'm doing inverted. I'm doing scare quotes there. Very much air quotes, medicinal purposes. You could sell pure grain alcohol. And that's what, by the way, that's how Jay Gatsby gets rich in The Great Gatsby, he's selling pure grain alcohol from his drugstores is one of the many, many cons that he's involved or crimes that he's involved in. But that's one of them. Anyway, so you could sell pure grain alcohol, and you got it from your chemist. And then you then had to dilute it and flavor it yourself. And everybody had recipes for gin, they passed around by word of mouth… 

They're supposed to be distilled, right. But instead, they're kind of making it with a spoon, which is not how you're supposed to make gin. So what they would do is they would just try to like mix, what they were trying to dilute it themselves. So they would add water. And then they would add some oil essences they would add like oil of juniper to try to make it taste like gin. And then stir it with a spoon and hope for the best and it, and it tasted awful. And it was unbelievably potent because they were starting with 100% alcohol and they were getting it down to about 80% Alcohol. So, and that is why most of the Americans who were drinkers in the 1920s did have raging alcohol problems later in life or die young, because they were drinking very dangerously high levels of alcohol. But they weren't the ones who were going to hospital screaming that they were going blind. They would have alcohol poisoning just because of the concentration of alcohol. But the alcohol per se was safe, it was just too much of it. 

But the people who are going blind were the poor people on the streets who were being given what they were told was bathtub gin, but had been cut with turpentine, had been mixed with gasoline, had been, had had various other kinds of poisons added to it to either make it taste like alcohol to cut through something or because it was cheap. I mean always because it was cheap, right. So that so the equivalent is very much with recreational drug use today. If you can afford to get very, very, you know, tested safe, pure cocaine or heroin from your drug dealer, then, then you might be safe. But if you get too pure a hit, it will still kill you. Or if you're buying cheap stuff on the streets, it will be cut with poison and you don't know what you're getting. And those were the people who were ending up hospitalized...

The drop waist… was a reaction against the corsets and the silhouettes of the Edwardian and Victorian era most obviously. So it was both a rebellion against the clothes of your parents, but it was also associated with women's emancipation. So instead of having these very constricting undergarments, it was part of dress reform, it meant that women were uncorseted. Now, they would still often wear corsets underneath those drop waist dresses because unless you have a very certain kind of figure, drop waist dresses are difficult to wear unless you've actually really restricted yourself anyway. So they would still wear various kinds of restrictive undergarments, depending. But it was certainly a move toward, toward more liberated dress, toward free or moving dress. And it was part of the sudden veneration of youth culture. So of course, it suggests that young women are very youthful. It's kind of, it's a pre sexual look for women. It's a kind of teenaged look. 

The other thing, we've mentioned contraception but in terms and I should have actually mentioned this earlier but it really has a lot to do with fashion. One of the other innovations that happened that changed women's lives was the invention of something called Kotex, the sanitary napkin… women could wear dresses like that, because they could keep themselves clean while they were menstruating. Because they had access to sanitary pads, and not long after that to tampons... one of the reasons for layers of petticoats, you know, one was that it was cold everywhere, so it keeps you warm. But for women, one of the reasons was that it, it was a way to deal with with menstruation when you don't have any other way of disguising that as it were. And so you need layers of fabric to deal with it...

‘She speaks about her grandmother, who had her teeth removed and replaced by dentures as it would just be cheaper on her husband's, be less of a financial burden on her.’

‘Okay. Well, that sounds like a very British story to me, which doesn't say that it didn't happen in the US, but I'm not aware of it happening in the US.’...

‘When fascism rose came into the cultural conversation in the United States, it was at exactly the same time that the second Klan was on the rise. And the word fascism in the United States begins to be used at the same time to describe the Klan. So they start to say, if you want to know what ,fat what this fascism thing is that this guy Mussolini is doing in Italy, it's like the Klan. And then they also say, if you want to know what this new thing the Klan is, because it was new in America as well, if you want to know what this new thing the Klan is, like what Mussolini is doing in Italy, so they just defined it reciprocally, and, and everybody understood them as being the same movement. They were ethno nationalist paramilitary groups...

Nordic people were racially superior to non Nordic people, as they called them. And Nordic people was anybody from Northern Europe and non Nordic people was literally everybody else in the world. And and so it was broadly Nordic was used there sort of to mean Northern, and so Northern European good. Everybody else inferior, subhuman, unwanted stay home... in the United States, you see it applied to immigrants across these cultures, Southern and Eastern European immigrants. They're described as vermin. They're described as being subhuman animals, they like living in filthy conditions. And that's why we can't bring them in because they'll bring down the quality of life. They are intellectually inferior. That's why they're poor. They're going to lower the breed. It's eugenicist thinking specifically’"

Americans' history of misunderstanding fascism dates back to fascism's start.

Weird. I thought race as a concept was created to justify slavery and colonialism. So Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans must always have been white too.

Links - 4th January 2023 (1)

Meme - "*Cyclist* WANTS TO BE TREATED LIKE A CAR. EXCEPT FOR TRAFFIC LIGHTS, STOP SIGNS, INTERSECTIONS, MINIMUM SPEED LIMITS, AND OVERTAKING LAWS"

Meme - "Cyclists when you suggest they ride in the bike lane instead of the middle of the road *Green Goblin grabs scientist by throat*"

Meme - "IS IT WORTH IT? HAMSTER EYES ARE HARVESTED EVERY DAY TO MAKE TAPIOCA PEARLS FOR BOBA. END THE VIOLENCE NOW."

Meme - "Authoritarian Left: sex work is bad because its work
Authoritarian Right: sex work is bad because its sex
Libertarian Left: sex work is good because its how i get work
Libertarian Right: sex work is good because its how i get sex"

Meme - "As promised... this is a way to garden without digging up your yard... or if you have no yard. What I love about this idea is that it is great for tomatoes that normally need plenty of space for roots to grow! Don't forget your drainage holes!" *buckets*

Meme - "We hired a dinosaur to show up at my sons birthday party. It didn't go as planned lol *Terrified kids screaming*"

Meme - Reign Murphy: *obsessive Christmas disorder* "@Target as someone with OCD I'd really appreciate it if you didn't sell my illness as a fashion statement"
derekweida: "Shut up, Pussy. You'll be fine. *amputee with gingerbread man missing a leg*"
"I met that girl through my room mate, actually. They both went to the same highschool in lowa and ever since this post went viral, she's turned her appearance around to look more normal and stopped being so sensitive"
Meme - derekweida: "What? You fuckers thought I didn't buy it? Shit..."
Meme - "my dad has grey hair and id like you to go back to your natural hair color so you can stop offending my father :("

'Glee' Actor Knew He Was Off the Show When They Let Him Cut His Hair - "Samuel Larsen, who played Joe Hart on "Glee" after cowinning season one of "The Glee Project," was known for his long locs — so when producers let him cut them, he knew it was over."

roxane gay on Twitter - "I enjoy Europe so much. I asked our lovely waiter at this restaurant in Athens if I could get chicken on my Greek salad. He said “No. Then it wouldn’t be a Greek salad.” I respect it. The salad was excellent."

Partenope Ristorante - "Note Bene: Everytime time chicken is added to a pizza or pasta, a kid in Naples disappears!"
"This is on the menu of our favorite Italian restaurant (owned and run by an actual Neapolitan chef). We love them."

Louisa 🌈👭 on Twitter - "Babysitting a 4 year old has me convinced that what video games need is “little buddy mode,” where a kid can have a character that just jogs along with you and can help/get their own encouraging score but cannot be harmed"

Everything is awesome: Don't forget the Lego - "Aim: Children frequently ingest coins (generally with minimal reported side effects); however, the ingestion of other items has been subject to less academic study. Parental concern regarding ingestion applies across a range of materials. In this study, we aimed to determine typical transit times for another commonly swallowed object: a Lego figurine head.
Methods: Six paediatric health-care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head. Previous gastrointestinal surgery, inability to ingest foreign objects and aversion to searching through faecal matter were all exclusion criteria. Pre-ingestion bowel habit was standardised by the Stool Hardness and Transit (SHAT) score. Participants ingested a Lego head, and the time taken for the object to be found in the participants stool was recorded. The primary outcome was the Found and Retrieved Time (FART) score.
Results: The FART score averaged 1.71 days. There was some evidence that females may be more accomplished at searching through their stools than males, but this could not be statistically validated.
Conclusions: A toy object quickly passes through adult subjects with no complications. This will reassure parents, and the authors advocate that no parent should be expected to search through their child's faeces to prove object retrieval."

Ark. Woman Befriended Mom's Killer, Then He Murdered Her - "Martha McKay was kind to Travis Lewis, who was convicted and released after he killed her mother and cousin in 1996... Family friend Frank Byrd, who’d driven McKay to the state penitentiary to see Lewis, told her he didn’t think it was a good idea, but “she didn’t answer me,” he says.  Her family also warned her to be careful. “We had said, ‘Just stay away from him. It's a bad juju type of thing.’ But she wouldn't do it," says Hutton.  A longtime Buddhist, McKay wrote Lewis letters in prison and supported his early, paroled release.  “We were contacted every time he came up for parole,” says Hutton. “None of us would OK it except for her.” McKay also felt bad that he was so young when the murders took place – and believed his claim that someone else was responsible, says Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen. When Lewis was finally released on parole in 2018, McKay quietly gave him a job doing work on the property, Hutton says.  But before her death, she fired him. Police had heard about a theft at McKay's house before her murder, says Crittenden County Chief Investigator Todd Grooms. After she died, Hutton read in her diary that she'd sold a chandelier for $10,000 cash, which she stashed in the house.  Travis happened to be there that day, says Hutton. “Then the money vanished. She fired him after the money disappeared,” she says."
Clearly her fault for being racist and firing him
Amidst all the heartwarming stories of reconciliation, we can't forget the ones where it doesn't turn out so well

Kangaroo attack leaves 77-year-old alpaca breeder dead near Albany in WA's Great Southern - "Peter Eades, 77, was attacked on Sunday on his property in Redmond, 25 kilometres north-west of Albany, in the state's Great Southern region. Police said Mr Eades had been keeping the three-year-old kangaroo as a pet... Police said they were forced to kill the kangaroo to make it safe for paramedics to treat Mr Eades... The last reported fatal attack by a kangaroo is believed to have been in New South Wales in 1936."

Meme - "Mom, I'm going to a sleepover to Kate"
"Ok son, but please don't forget to wear protection"
"Mom I'm 14"
"And I am 28"

Sujay Kansagra, MD on Twitter - "True story:
Surgeon: Did someone fart?
Silence
Surgeon: I need to know if someone farted. I may have perforated bowel.
Med student: I farted"

Meme - "Obsessive stalker at your serv(...)
Hello cute girls of /r9k/. Tired of feeling unwanted? Uncared? Undesired? Allow me to introduce myself. Im a sociopathic, obsessive and unhinged stalker. With your CONSENT i can follow you, stalk your social media. Send you "unsolicited" calls and messages. Jerk off to your pictures and send you the video. You will never feel unloved again because ill tell you everyday how much love you (you don't have to reply back) If you have a PO box i can send you love letters and recordings of my poetry to you. (poetry sample down bellow this thread) I can be obsessed about you, think about you every day, abuse you, love you and make you feel appreciated.
*I will NOT interviene in your real life
*I will NEVER harm you in real life
*You CAN terminate this service whenever you feel like it, i won't insist. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
I only stalk one girl at time so if you are up to it send me a message fast and we can figure this out."

Meme - "Eastern Europe is a magical place"
"Ukraine fans turned a Russia flag upside down to insult Putin, but Bosnia fans thought it was a Serbian flag and attacked them."

Greg Price on Twitter - "House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD):  "[Republicans] have made it quite clear they want to eliminate what they call the Deep State. The Deep State is a cadre of professionals dedicated to honoring the Constitution and the laws of this country."
Broke: "The Deep State is a right-wing conspiracy"
Woke: "The Deep State is real and a good thing""

Robert Dur on Twitter - "How much does author prominence affect peer review?
🔹If referees can see that a paper is coauthored by a Nobel laureate, close to 80% recommend R&R or Accept
🔹The same paper is rejected by 65% if only the lesser known author is shown"

Meme - "I'm installing mods"
"TO fix the bugs?"
*look*
"To fix the bugs, right? *Padme with bigger breasts*"

Big E on Twitter - "Let’s do a drone light show over an uncontacted tribe and become their gods"

Edible Animal Cell - "Edible Animal Cell made from a Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Grapes, Raspberries, Nerds, Gummy Worms, Big League Chew and Fruit Roll-up"

Chinese man climbs 30-foot electricity pole to do sit-ups; causes power outage in Chengdu - "a man climbed up a utility pole to do stomach crunches off its top, stunning eyewitnesses and causing a power cut to thousands of homes"

Meme - "What are you doing step train?!
No train had ever touched Thomas like this before. His wheels felt weak"

Teacher Rickrolled by inspired quantum physics essay - "Breathing life into a very old meme, physics student Sairam Gudiseva Rickrolled his teacher in spectacular fashion, inserting every word of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up into an essay.  Getting each word to line up with the margin would be no mean feat with any piece of writing, let alone an assessment of the influence of Danish scientist Niels Bohr on quantum theory... Perhaps the best known example of interpolating song lyrics where they don't belong came from BBC presenter Chris Packham, who over a number of years slipped Smiths' song names into episodes of Springwatch.
'Never has a man influenced physics so profoundly as Niels Bohr in the early 1900's'"

Denmark's Navy Oaks Repurposed - "Massive tree-planting programs seem to be all the rage these days, as a way of saving the planet from climate change and global warming. But there was a time when trees, specifically oaks, were planted not to ward off warming but to wreak war. Before steel replaced wood in ship construction, oaks were in high demand to supply building material for naval fleets. And to provide the massive timbers required for large warships, the trees needed to be around 200 years old. So when such trees became scarce, European rulers rushed to plant oaks, convinced that, while the best time to plant an oak was 200 years ago, the next best time was now, i.e., then. Alas, shipbuilding technology outpaced the oaks: by the time the trees matured steel was supreme, and there was no need to make wooden warships. The oaks still stand, forming large forests of high-quality timber. France has its Forêt de Bercé (visited by the IOS as part of the Pre-Conference Tour in 2012), which has provided beams to reconstruct the spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral; Sweden the oak forest on the island of Visingsö, where about 300,000 oaks were planted in the 1830s; the UK has its Trafalgar Oaks planted at the bidding of Lord Nelson; even the U.S. has a Naval Live Oaks Reservation in Florida originally intended for shipbuilding. In the case of Denmark, the story is dramatic. During the Battle of Copenhagen of 1807, British naval forces bombarded the town, forcing its surrender. Then the whole of the Danish navy was seized and the citizens of Copenhagen had to stand and watch as the British sailed away with their ships, which constituted an estimated 90,000 mature oak trees (each ship used up an average 2,000 oaks). Crown Prince Frederick VI, then regent, needed to rebuild the navy from the acorns up. He declared a ban on felling oak trees, proclaimed all oaks, felled or hale, property of the crown, and started planting oaks like there was no tomorrow—knowing that the oaks in fact needed some 73,000 tomorrows before they could float his descendants’ boats. The story goes that early this century Queen Margrethe II got a call from the Royal Forestry Commissioner of Denmark informing her that finally her ship had come in and the oaks were ripe for the picking. This seems to be an urban myth, but it is certainly true that some 16,000 oaks planted in North Zealand, an area north of Copenhagen, and others planted in other Danish woodlands, offer some outstanding oak timber. They are known as flådeege (“fleet oaks” or “navy oaks”), and they are now being put to some interesting uses. Some are close to the original purpose, such as the restoration of a historic battle ship, Fregatten Jylland, now a museum and tourist attraction, or the reconstruction of a Viking ship from the 11th century, which involved cleaving the huge oak logs with mallets, wedges, and axes. A project to use a sailing ship for environmentally friendly maritime transport also used timber from the navy oaks to restore their vessel. Operagoers in Copenhagen wanting to get to the modern opera house on the island of Holmen do so by crossing bridges built with beams milled from the navy oaks (the island was the site of the port from where the Danish ships were stolen in 1807). You can even order a dining table made from these oaks. But perhaps the most remarkable use the oaks have been put to is the construction of 150 chairs. Known simply Den Runde Stol (The Round Chair1), Hans Wegner’s simple and stylish design is one of the most famous pieces of Danish furniture (and there is plenty of competition)."

Thread by @najumtariq on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Our parents are often misunderstood.  when mom comes and sits in your room, she isn’t invading your personal space. sometimes, she’s just trying to escape her own thoughts.  when dad wakes you up early in the morning and takes you to buy groceries, he is just trying to bond with you, in his own way.  every time mom asks you, “what are you smiling at?” when you are using your phone, she isn’t being nosy. she just wants to be a part of your life, because the two of you barely talk anymore.  every time dad asks, “kaha jaare ho?” i know it feels like an investigation, but i suppose, he just wants to know. we often share our live location with our friends, but how often do we share it with our parents?  you know, mom doesn’t hate ‘bahar ka khaana’, she hates that she had cooked food for you, but you ordered instead. and when she cooks your favourite meal, all she hopes to hear you say is, ‘it’s tasty.’  dad will say things like, “i earn for you all”, but grunt if you buy books or more clothes. dads are weird that way, but i suppose, he just wants you to spend wisely. growing up, he has struggled, and he understands the value of money.  i know, i know, there’s a generation gap, but let’s not forget, while we are growing up, they are growing older, too. they are humans, too, and just like us, our parents can feel lonely and are misunderstood."

Meme - "You PIGS BETTER LET ME IN OR I'LL BLOW YouR HouSE "
"Mmm *slurp*"
"Oh shit *slurp*"
*Splooosh*

Meme - "Over thinking kills your pp / happiness"

Zalgo Text Generator ― LingoJam
Demonic text distortion

LingoJam | Make a Translator Online! - "Welcome to LingoJam, a website where you can create your own translator.  Simply click the button below, start adding translation rules, and you'll have a shareable online translator. No signup needed!"

Tokyo's Urban Planning Secrets Revealed in New Book - Bloomberg - "Major central planning efforts have made Japan’s capital one of the safest, cleanest and most public-transit oriented cities in the world. Yet its labyrinthian network of streets, restaurants hidden in dark alleyways and entire buildings filled with a medley of shops reveal another side of the city that is more spontaneous and idiosyncratic. This paradox between centrally planned and chaotic Tokyo is one that Keio University associate professor and architect Jorge Almazan and co-author Joe McReynolds seek to tackle in their new book “Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City.” Inspired by the science of complex systems, they demonstrate how Tokyo was shaped not solely by disorder or grand design but by the intermingling of daily small choices that create spontaneous patterns from the bottom up — and tips for how to consciously harness them... This is going to sound wild to anyone who lives in the US, but for any two-story rowhouse in Tokyo, the owner can by right operate a bar, a restaurant, a boutique, a small workshop on the ground floor — even in the most residential zoned sections of the city. That means you have an incredible supply of potential microspaces. Any elderly homeowner could decide to rent out the bottom floor of their place to some young kid who wants to start a coffee shop, for example. When you look at what we call yokocho alleyways — charming, dingy alleyways that grew out of the black markets post-World War II, which are some of the the most iconic and beloved sections of the city now — it’s all of these tiny little bars and restaurants just crammed into every available space... small businesses get a lot of interesting tax incentives. Liquor licenses are extremely cheap and easy. A liquor license in an American city can sometimes run up to $500,000. You’re not going to have a little four-seat, mom-and-pop bar for the locals. So those regulatory and policy choices that we make fundamentally determine what our cities are going to feel like...  in the US, debates about urban policy are skewed by the fact that homeowners’ property is the closest thing they have to a savings account. Usually for retirement, people are counting on their property values going up so they have a strong incentive to resist changes that might threaten them. A lot of the dynamism we see in the emergent urbanism of Tokyo are things that reduce predictability, which reduce property values. When it comes to, politically, how do we make Tokyo-esque urbanism feasible in America, the key is building a coalition of folks who are more interested in the dynamism of their cities than they are in the value of their particular property."

The Chip Shortage Was Supposed to Be a ‘Sputnik Moment.’ What Happened? - Bloomberg - "China, home to a huge chunk of the manufacturing of finished electronics goods manufacturing, is currently trying to build out its domestic chip industry and reduce its dependence on imports. The country’s efforts are proceeding at a breakneck pace, despite efforts to counter them... The US has never done industrial policy in the way that other countries have. Silicon Valley’s vaguely anti-authority version of capitalism has created some of the world’s largest and most influential companies—bolstering the argument that all government needs to do is get out of the way... But historically, other countries have been less hands-off when it comes to chips. When South Korea and Taiwan decided to compete in chipmaking, they allocated capital, as well as support within higher education to create the kind of talent needed to get the industry going. For both South Korea and Taiwan, there was a belief that building a modern economy was a gateway to national security. Both went through various stops and starts, with resources wasted and companies failing along the way.  Now, in TSMC and Samsung, they have companies that even Intel is struggling to keep up with"

'At 6pm, it feels like it’s lunchtime': Low pay, long hours driving away Singapore's young architect hopefuls - "It took Daniel (not his real name) seven years to finish studying architecture at polytechnic and university – but less than 15 months on the job to decide he didn’t see a future in it.  Low pay, slow progression, gruelling hours and complicated work were some reasons...   “At 6pm, it feels like it’s lunchtime … the halfway mark of my day. You start around 9am, and on average, end at midnight, by the time you get home it’s 1am or 2am.”  The pay also feels disproportionate to the work, the architectural assistant told CNA.  A company once offered him a starting salary of S$2,700 even though he has a master's degree, which is generally expected of architecture students... In a survey last August by the Singapore Institute of Architects, only 7 per cent of young graduates said they were likely to stay in the profession in the long run.   The top reasons behind this: Low wages and long hours, a lack of work-life balance and high stress.  The biggest factors said to cause stress at work were heavy workloads, unreasonable clients, and conflicting requirements by authorities...   “People can bid a ridiculous price just to get the job, and I think that is very, very harmful to the industry.  “It’s just getting lower and lower, then obviously the firms don't have money and cannot pay the staff, therefore the whole brain drain.”   Another big challenge is reconciling the reality of the job with what one had expected it to be, Jessica said.  Many students are drawn to architecture because of their passion for design, but the designing of buildings is “only 5 per cent of the job scope”, she said.  The bulk of actual work involves managing contracts, construction, administrative work and navigating sometimes conflicting restrictions set out by various authorities.   And though school emphasises creativity in design, it is difficult to flex these muscles at work.  Daniel said: “There’s budget, compliances, and Singapore being so small, a lot of projects are alterations and additions, minor renovations where everything is all pre-fixed... projects done overseas are “very different” compared to those in Singapore.  “Singapore is known for being safe, but sometimes it restricts us in a way where we are not allowed, or we wouldn’t dare to take risks because of other factors involved.”...   The amount of “abortive work” can also be demoralising, said the graduates. Jessica cited clients who ask for “option after option after option”, only to end up choosing the original design... With greater access to online sources, some also feel qualified to make certain architectural demands, even if they aren’t trained, Jessica added.Some clients may also contact architects after hours and on weekends for minor changes, “believing their work should be your priority”, said Ms Tan, who works in a small firm."

Work from home in JB: Some Singaporeans are relocating amid border reopening, hybrid arrangements - "a small group of Singaporeans who have relocated to Johor Bahru following the reopening of borders.  For these workers, being based in Johor has become more viable as companies are allowing their employees to work from home either fully or via a hybrid arrangement...   Remote working is an increasingly popular choice for Singapore workers.   A recent survey of 1,000 workers conducted by recruitment agency Randstad showed that two in five respondents said that they would not accept a job if they were unable to work from home or anytime they wanted...   A major factor that has prompted Singaporeans to relocate to Johor Bahru is lower costs for housing, groceries and other amenities.  “Not all things are cheaper in Johor Bahru than in Singapore. But for most items, we do save quite a bit”... the favourable exchange rate has made it more economical to live in Johor Bahru...   Are there any security concerns for Singaporeans who opt to live in Johor Bahru? Those interviewed by CNA downplayed these concerns.  Ahead of the border reopening, there were social media posts speculating that Singaporeans may be targetted by snatch thieves when they visit Johor Bahru.   However, the state police have rejected the speculation, citing Johor’s falling crime rates in 2021 and the first quarter of this year."

Twitter is turning us all insane - "The eminent social psychologist Jonathan Haidt recently wrote a hard-hitting article showing that use of certain forms of social media – particularly by girls just entering adolescence – was directly and causally associated with higher rates of depression and depression-related symptoms since the early-to-mid 2010s. I had been thinking along broadly similar lines, particularly with regard to Twitter, and how its incentives are structured, compared to those that characterise healthy human interactions. The extent of its harmful pathology has recently been brought home to me as a consequence of those deliberations... it bypasses the traditional means for measuring the quality of communication... anyone, regardless of competence or social status, can comment to anyone else's entire network of followers, merely by commenting on something the latter posted... This “democratisation” of communication enables a parasitism completely divorced from competence. It massively inflates noise relative to signal, bypassing all the screening mechanisms that have been so painstakingly developed to shield us from incessant noise in the real world.   The third way Twitter breaks the norms of standard human interaction is the zero cost – and even potential benefit – it imposes on those who engage in flagrant ethical misconduct. It facilitates the implied moral elevation that accrues to the accuser, who adopts the position of virtuous judge merely by formulating an accusation, however vague, ill-founded and scurrilous...   Too often, therefore, the medium stimulates a reactive rage, as it denies to even “competent” users two of the main privileges traditionally granted to them: the presumption of innocence and the right and ability to engage in effective self-defence...   I believe that Twitter's reward structure, even more than Facebook's, incentivises malignant narcissism. It enables, and benefits, free-riding and prioritises psychopathic motivation. And it garners disproportionate attention in doing so, capitalising on the attractiveness of outrageous behaviour, while externalising all the associated and inevitable costs to the innocent broader society. This is the psychological equivalent of the tragedy of the commons; the psychological equivalent to pollution of the air we all breathe... Haidt noted that Twitter indeed cuts the link between “competence or value-creation and prestige/reward." Pinker, likewise, observed: “The contrast between Twitter and face-to-face communication is profound. I have been astounded at how some of my students and younger colleagues think nothing of spitting utterly gratuitous and unjustified snark at respected figures in their fields. I have to remind them that they may meet these figures at a conference some day, or that they might be on their tenure or grant review committees. The transition from meetings to Zoom in the past two years may have exacerbated this, but I suspect the main enabler is the sense that their reference group is their Twitter same-age peers, and that they don’t have cues reminding them they’re part of a multi-generational community.”    Pinker added: “...there [also] seems to be a dynamic of weaponising social justice, so that as our society legitimately expands rights for black people, women, gay people, and transgender people, it simultaneously creates weapons for sociocultural warfare, handing aggressive professionals a moralistic cudgel with which they can demonise their competitors. In this case destructive trolling could also be a side-effect of moral progress. Note that this would be consistent with the appeal of moralistic mobbing among younger generations – in status competition with their seniors, they are disadvantaged along every dimension but one, claimed moral superiority.”... Here’s an uncomfortable conclusion: it does not take that many free-riders or criminals (or people who simply just don’t care, and would just as soon see everything burn) to radically destabilise complex social organisations. I spoke recently with the journalist Andy Ngo about the anarchist group Antifa, for example, after being informed by some Democrats I was corresponding with that this group “didn’t really exist.” I didn’t know what they meant, until I asked Andy how many truly active Antifa cells he thought existed in the US, and how many active, full-time equivalent “members” each cell might have. He thought 40 and 20. That’s 800. All that damage, from 800 anarchists. That’s the Pareto principle: a small number of agents in any organisation (or its equivalent) pull all the weight.   It is worth remembering that one per cent of the US population accounts for two thirds of all violent crime (and a minority of that one per cent are repeat offenders). Have we built “communication” systems that are capable of destabilising our entire society? Haidt believes that it was the “mere” introduction of the retweet and like buttons that facilitated the tit-for-tat sharing of emotionally triggering content; particularly that capable of generating outrage. If a tech innovation that “small” can exacerbate polarisation on a societal scale, how much disruption can these communication technologies taken as a whole create? Enough to bring us down?"

Kids: Stranger Danger! - FML - "Today, I was going into a store and saw a woman roughly handling a screaming toddler. I kept walking, until I heard the kid scream, "Help! You’re not my mommy!” I called 911 and stood behind the car to keep her from taking off. The cops arrived to see me fending off blows from a very pissed off grandma. FML"

Meme - "Wife" "Wife's boyfriend"
"Girlfriend" "Girlfriend's girlfriend"
"You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy"

Meme - George Takei @GeorgeTakei: "The CIA assessment concludes that Russians interfered with our election. With the margin so close, the result is illegitimate. #HeyElectors" George Takei @GeorgeTakei: "Here's a simple rule: Never elect any election deniers into positions that oversee our elections."

Meme - "PBS" *NPC*

Meme - "The real story should have been this guy going on national tv with this neck beard"
"Christian Nationalism on the rise"
"It's like a meme jumped off your screen and into real life"