Link round-up for 1 October 2023

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

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It's October now.  Be prepared.

Don't let your dreams become reality.

Nice Halloween prop here.

You too can terrify cats.  Or just tantalize them.

Don't leave your giant skeleton alone.

She defends her home fiercely against an intruder.

What if Sauron had been played by Donald Trump?

Do not use this tool for other than its intended purpose.

See a dog ring a bell.

Kids have fun with whatever's available.

The elevator shall set you free.

I'd bet this cat has no reflection.

The Far Corner Café blog observes Blasphemy Day.

Victorian women weren't as demure as some believe.

These doorways would come in handy if you have anything you don't want busybodies to know about.

This is not an outdoor concert.

Are trigger warnings for plays a problem?

This is the Gelmerbahn (a railway) in Switzerland.

Love conquers all.

Manitou Springs CO is already gearing up for Halloween.  There has already been a costume party nearby.

It's autumn at the lake.

In this town, your house and the street it's on are in two different countries.

Sometimes doctors don't really hear you (post also includes links on testosterone issues in older men).

Here's why France has the fastest trains.

Some info here on the RSV vaccines and the new covid boosters.

To fight cancer, study large animals.

The revival of the near-extinct American chestnut tree shows what modern technology can accomplish.

Prospects for avoiding the worst of global warming are looking brighter thanks to the tremendous global expansion of clean energy over the past two years.

Wild rhino populations, long endangered, are now showing signs of recovery.

Interesting discussion here on what intelligent aliens would probably look like.  I posted about the same topic here.

Sadly, India has been unable to bring its Chandrayaan lander and rover out of sleep mode.  Nevertheless, the mission is considered a success.

It's time to be a modern Medusa.  We've already won this battle once before.

Commitment bias is a royal road to self-deception.

On October 4 there will be a pointless burst of aggravating noise from all radios, TVs, and cell phones in the US.

When the police ask questions, answer clearly.

This asshole won't be trying any more carjackings for a while.

We may soon have self-burning police cars.

In one sense, we need to go back to the 1950s.

Don't let medieval anti-blasphemy laws sneak back in via misguided liberalism.

Some worthwhile books for parents on gender ideology here.

American culture makes real frugality very difficult.

See the best and worst states for job seekers.

Why are some Christians widely disliked?

Don't censor disturbing books -- talk about why they're disturbing.

Girls are far outperforming boys in school these days, to the extent that standards are being lowered to accommodate the latter.

Here's a worthy cause if you have some spare cash, and an awesome story of mothers standing up to the trans fad.

Darwinfish 2 examines the Menendez case and the UAW strike, and has a few good words for Taylor Swift.

Many younger people these days lack the skills to get along with people whose viewpoints differ from theirs -- which is a problem beyond just the workplace.

This guy seems like a serial killer in the making, and needs to be reined in hard before he actually kills somebody.  The usual jackasses are trying to obfuscate or even justify his behavior, so spread these links around as far and wide as possible.  Then there's this guy.

TED suppressed a video opposing elite racism.

The FCC has reinstated net neutrality, a blow against potential big-money domination of the internet.

Free speech gets a win in court in Iowa.

Newly-graduated doctors are avoiding jobs in forced-birth states.

The US may well be overpaying for military weapons.  The audit certainly sounds like a good idea.

62% of voters support the UAW strikers, and the number is rising.

At last, some justice in the Loudoun county rape cover-up scandal -- the school superintendent has been convicted of retaliation against a teacher for cooperating with the grand jury investigation.

New York state now requires job postings to state a pay range, which will save applicants a lot of time which would otherwise be wasted applying for jobs and then discovering the pay is shit.

Target is closing three stores in my city due to out-of-control theft.  Nationwide, theft cost retailers more than a hundred billion dollars in 2022, and is becoming more violent.

John Fetterman is introducing a bill to eliminate the absurdity of student lunch debt nationwide.

A whiny guy who has histrionic meltdowns every time something irritates him is not what we need in politics, or anywhere else.

On Tuesday small-business owners in Oakland CA staged a mass closure and protest over the massive crime wave that is destroying them.

Forced-birthers hate being faced with the stark reality of what they advocate.

The FTC has filed an antitrust suit against Amazon, finally challenging the monopolistic power of Bezos's worker-abusing colossus.

Here's why some men think they can "pass" as women.

Workers are successfully defying return-to-office mandates.  Conflict over this issue is driving middle managers into burnout.  Fake fun at the office isn't helping.

Citigroup is doing things the old tired corporate way -- reorganization, layoffs, bullying employees.

Here's where Gays against Groomers is coming from.

This may have been Biden's most important speech (the post includes video and link to transcript).

The left will be doomed if it insists on dismissing parents' rights as "far right".

The British economy is now out-performing those of Germany and France.

The UK will continue to support Ukraine regardless of how the US election next year turns out.

The British government needs to take action on the country's rising tide of violence and harassment against women.

Stop pointing out uncomfortable facts when we've declared them to not be true.

A Spanish town discovers the exciting possibilities of "AI".

Some recent developments in Russia and Ukraine here.  Also, Russia accidentally shot down one of its own fighter jets.  That's what happens when you put soldiers on duty without adequate training.

In the course of the war, the balance of artillery power has changed in Ukraine's favor.

This Thursday, thousands of women marched for abortion rights in Mexico and Argentina.  Forced-birth laws are being repealed across Latin America, but progress is slow and reactionary political forces are still strong.

As relations improve between Israel and some Arab states, the Iranian theocracy longs for the good old days of hatred and fighting.

Indian-made iPhones evoke odd reactions in China.

In Southeast Asia many of the people, not just governments, oppose at least some forms of free speech.  (To be fair, many Americans do also favor some restrictions on free speech -- which is why we need the First Amendment.)

Spread these photos around.  Truth is truth.

More links at Fair and Unbalanced and WAHF.

My posts this week:  an image round-up, a short review of Bill Maher's Religulous, and Blasphemy Day International.

If any links in this round-up are paywalled or require a log-in to view, please let me know so I can avoid linking to that site in the future.

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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When two people agree on everything, that means one of them is doing all the thinking for both.

Anecdotes are not data, and cannot replace or refute data.

Wanting to believe can make it easier to believe.  It cannot make the belief true.