Link round-up for 10 September 2023
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It's the right truck for him.
This floor is not lizard-friendly. Jurassic Park should have used it.
If you hammer too hard, you will get stuck.
We seem to be in for a toilet-themed Halloween.
Stupid people and water are a bad combination.
It's time for some dogs.
Take your pun-ishment.
Esme's Cloud has some mis-transcribed erotica for us.
Turtles are competitive.
We should design cars for parallel parking.
It's best to slow down when approaching a curve in the road.
In medieval China, feelings ran high about poetry.
This Goth Barbie house actually exists and is for sale (found via Miss Cellania).
Octoberfarm is getting ready for Halloween. Bohemian Valhalla, too, has plenty of decorations posted.
Here's some snow to help you get through the last of summer.
This would be nice.
He remembered.
Cool witch shed here.
Toddlers fall down sometimes.
Meditation or mass murder? Better call the cops just in case.
When the parents are drunks, the kids need to do for themselves.
Build it yourself.
This plane developed engine trouble, but managed to land safely.
When you eat a pineapple, the pineapple also eats you.
These are big waves (it's in Puerto Rico).
Several mini-disasters here.
This is the foundation of a nuclear power plant.
Here's an impressive set of views of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, with some area-to-area comparisons with modern Mexico City (found via Miss Cellania).
Horses are a complete mess.
Can this odd little critter be saved?
Recent evidence suggests a lot of what we believe about sleep and dreams may be wrong.
We've confirmed that young mouse blood can rejuvenate aged mice. Developing an equivalent therapy for humans that can actually be used will take a lot more work.
Estrogen has many harmful effects on men, and no verifiable benefits.
This summer has been the hottest on record, by a substantial margin.
After two weeks of successful work, India's Lunar lander and rover have been put into sleep mode. However, they may awaken again later this month.
The latest data show that the Pirola variant of covid is less worrisome than originally believed; the existing vaccines should be fairly effective against it. (For any turdbrains who are crowing that "science got it wrong", this is how science is supposed to work -- its conclusions are based on evidence, and it revises those conclusions as new evidence becomes available.) The recent sharp rise in US covid hospitalizations is concentrated in fourteen states, all of them red states, suggesting that vaccine rejection is the main issue here.
Putting small children in daycare, away from their mothers, turns out to be hugely damaging. Given what we know about development in mammals generally, it would be astonishing if this weren't the case.
A new strain of bird flu from (of course) China is threatening to become the next pandemic.
Dogs probably know when they're approaching death (found via SickoRicko).
This "UFO" video shows how easily the eye can be fooled. Keep it in mind when evaluating other claims of flying-saucer sightings.
The Barbie movie is helping women filter out dud men.
Stephen King's new novel takes on the anti-vaxers.
This reviewer has his own reason for disliking Oppenheimer.
Sound of Freedom is a huge hit not only in the US but also in Latin America.
How do you feel about expressing your beliefs to others?
This is the correct way to discuss Trump's trial dates.
Turkey is getting tough on crypto scammers.
Don't fall prey to cynicism and defeatism.
Why doesn't she leave?
Here's the latest news from Twitter.
These people exist. I see similar stuff on wingnut blogs all the time.
Jeff Bezos and his dick-shaped rocket want to remind us all that Elon Musk isn't the only asshole billionaire out there.
Society is enabling increasingly absurd levels of narcissism.
Lego is an environmental pioneer.
Christians in New Jersey block public access to this beach every Sunday morning. Way to make your religion unpopular, dumbasses.
Personal experience is an excellent teacher. More here.
"This is it? This is life?"
Conditions in the US now are perfect for an outbreak of cultism.
Biden has stopped several oil drilling projects in Alaska which had been approved under Trump. However, this will not stop the Willow project, which was approved under Biden himself.
Let kids decide. Don't drive them to despair.
We must always keep the ability to pay with cash. Digital payments must be an option, not the only option.
Grindr demanded that its work-from-home employees come in to the office two days a week. Half its workforce quit.
A wound always tries to heal, even if you call it something else.
As most public spaces go commercial, libraries are becoming the new centers of community.
Today's union movement is young, grassroots-driven, aggressive, and willing to get confrontational with the bosses and the parasite class. It's ready to fight for issues like work-life balance and quality of life.
Education cannot take place in an echo chamber. The situation at our universities is getting worse.
Some people punish children for accidents that they would shrug off if done by an adult.
Elon Musk, world's biggest loser. He's now resorting to the world's oldest bigotry to explain away Twitter's woes. The FAA has grounded his latest exploding rocket until he fixes the dozens of things they found wrong with it.
Beyond abortion and birth control, the Christian Right is also attacking divorce.
This lunacy exists.
So, what's the deal with KiwiFarms?
Obedience and conformity are not the path of progress.
Visit Portland! Here's what's waiting to welcome you.
She refused to go along with tyranny and bigotry.
We may finally be getting a break from predatory rent increases.
Nikki Haley doesn't want any union jobs in South Carolina (found via Hackwhackers).
The Yale Free Press is pushing back against the miasma of bullying conformity that's suffocating university life.
The latest misogynistic harassment campaign comes from Matt Walsh's followers. Even NRO thinks this is a bad look for the right wing.
The Republican "No Labels" scam is apparently partially funded by Clarence Thomas's pal Harlan Crow.
Return-to-office mania is driven by bosses' insecurities and control-freakery, not by data. Sheer out-of-date thinking also plays a role.
The head of the Chicago teachers' union sends her own son to a private school, but is against school choice for others, even though a large majority of Democratic voters favor it.
It's becoming increasingly obvious that Christianity is just a jumble of superstitions.
One presidential candidate is attracting some bipartisan support.
This girl was given trans hormones at eleven, major surgery at fifteen.
It's time to nationalize Starlink. We can't have an arrogant narcissist empowered to sabotage foreign policy by aiding an enemy. It's not the first time he's helped Putin.
In some areas, major hurricanes are becoming so frequent that it no longer makes sense to rebuild afterwards.
A US senator is "aiding and abetting communists".
The damage done by the Fed's insane interest-rate hikes may last for a decade.
Some argue that the Democrats should replace Biden with a younger candidate. This post sets forth the case. Sorry, but old age is a valid issue. It could sway the election outcome. (Note: See response from Annie in the comments.)
When you read about a violent woman criminal, dig a little deeper.
In a country notorious for its rain, privatization of utilities has been followed by water shortages.
British parents are suing the government over the indoctrination of children in school.
Women workers are especially resistant to return-to-office mandates -- in the UK, more and more women are starting their own businesses to escape them.
Gay and lesbian culture is being destroyed.
Russian émigrés in Germany are harassing and attacking Ukrainians.
81% of the French support the new ban on Islamic clothing in schools.
Ukraine is doing NATO's job for it.
The West's biggest enemy is down -- keep kicking.
Russia has lost so many soldiers in Ukraine that it's now recruiting men from other countries. The losses have troops demoralized and angry (found via Reaganite Independent).
Mexico has decriminalized abortion nationwide. Abortion rights have generally been gaining across Latin America as the region becomes more secular.
For women in Afghanistan, the nightmare just gets worse.
The Chinese regime is astroturfing a "good for marriage" "trend" on social media in yet another desperate effort to fix the plummeting birth rate. Actual women aren't having it.
Foreign investors are pulling money out of China as fast as they can. Meanwhile, the dollar has hit a new high as the US economy booms.
More links at WAHF and Elder of Ziyon.
My own posts this week: a time-travel novel, truths and inspirations, and Bill Maher on religion.
To suggest an item for inclusion in the next link round-up, you can use the e-mail address on the left in my profile, or if you don't want to use e-mail, leave it in a comment to the previous link round-up.
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posted by Infidel753 at 1:34 AM
7 Comments:
I always find a few little movies to steal.
So many things to ponder this week. I know I've said it before, but it's sincere. I appreciate the time and effort you put into this weekly roundup, and I always, always learn something of value, usually more than one thing.
The article about day care that you linked was simply stunning. The person who wrote it has to be incredibly brave. I'm sure she's received a ton of negative and angry feedback.
As a former Kindercare employee (Champions) I can tell you that none of the corporate assholes cared about children in any way, and that 75% of the people 'taking care' of kids are idiots who are just collecting a paycheck. We're causing serious harm to our kids and people are afraid to say so.
I mostly stayed home with kids (Matt went to day care for a year or so) and boy, did I hear about it. Especially when there was always too much month at the end of the money. No regrets, though.
Anyway. Thank you so much for the work you do to post this every week. I check starting around 1 AM to see if it's up yet (if I happen to be up... I mean, I care, but not enough to stay up all night and wait!)
Ricko: Please do steal!
Ami: Thank you for the kind words. It is nice to get some appreciation. I figure if it leads even one person to read or watch something outside of whatever their normal range is, I've accomplished something.
I don't see how anybody who knows anything about children, or about mammals generally, can fail to see that it's bad for kids to be away from their mothers for big chunks of most days when they're little. If that clashes with some people's aspirations or world-view, then that's unfortunate, but irrelevant. Biological reality is what it is.
My impression is that these days most of the corporate assholes in whatever field care only about profits. Even at "ground level", numerous posts on your blog have shown that there are at least some people working in the field who shouldn't be.
Thank you for including a link from one of my posts, I appreciate it.
I really hate that rats were used in the dream studies and parts of their brains were removed for it. I think it's terrible to be using animals in this way.
The Kagu bird is so pretty. Sad that it is almost extinct.
I knew that pineapple can do that to your mouth, I must have read that somewhere. Crazy.
I love the witch shed, how fun is that.
Thanks for the post!
Scientists do get pretty casual with rats. They've become the standard experimental animal for so many things. I wonder if there was some less intrusive way they could have made the same deductions.
I love the aesthetic of the witch shed. I hope she lives in a tolerant area. Some fundies would freak out over it.
Thank you for the link to my Kagu post. Lots of your readers wanted to see the critter we hope will survive.
As a strong Biden/Harris adherent (not uncritically) who is, of course, concerned about Biden's age, I found the trio of links thought-provoking. I'm less concerned about the polls. I pay attention to Simon Rosenberg, who gained prominence last year as one of few who said there'd be no red wave and calls polls a snapshot of time with little predictive value. But the potential for a "McConnell moment" is a serious worry.
Yet there remains a strong case to be made for Biden and Harris, and AB Stoddard's suggested dream ticket--Whitmer and Warnock--though appealing, would not automatically come to be. Biden has managed to hold the moderate/liberal/progressive factions together; there would be major battling that would not serve the party well. Harris, whom I've written is as underestimated as Biden, would not simply step aside, and her strong support among Democratic Black women would not readily be transferable. The usual benefits of incumbency would be lost.
I'm going to ponder all this some more--and probably explore it on my blog. I appreciate these stimulating links, and I add my appreciation for all the time and effort you devote to this work each week.
Annie: Thanks for the comment. Myself, I think that replacing Biden as the candidate could not happen unless he himself changed his mind and decided not to run again (which could happen if, say, he has a serious or highly visible medical issue). In that case, the sting felt by his supporters might well be lessened. Harris would certainly have a strong claim to replace him at the top of the ticket. I don't actually know much about Whitmer and Warnock, and I'm not particularly stuck on the idea of any specific individual as a replacement -- but all these extremely old people in positions of high responsibility are a concern. Feinstein is practically non-functional. McConnell may be becoming so. I've seen analysis of Trump's speech patterns that suggests considerable mental deterioration compared with how he talked twenty or thirty years ago (in his case, of course there are worse issues than age, but it's still an issue). Biden seems to be holding up well, but I've seen dementia close up and I know how a person in that age range can deteriorate dramatically in a year or two. And voter concerns about it are an issue. The country overwhelmingly doesn't want another Biden-Trump re-match, but the way things are currently going, that's what they'll get.
The polling average in 2022 predicted outcomes pretty accurately if you exclude all the deliberately-skewed Republican-leaning polls that were released to distort the averages. What that says to me is that polls on the whole still have a good predictive value, and that the "red wave" that year was probably real until the abortion issue squelched it. I'm more mistrustful now of polls about 2024 simply because it's too early -- a lot can happen in fourteen months. But it's a mistake to dismiss polls. Campaigns spend millions on them; they wouldn't do that if they didn't provide valuable information.
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