Link round-up for 7 July 2024
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Don't let this guy and his truck get anywhere near you.
Looks like our relatives are picking up our bad habits.
When you cook chicken, make sure it's fresh.
We seem to never run out of cat problems.
Smile!
Different species learn to coexist in an environment.
They're all lined up and being inspected by the commander.
He can wash without any help.
It's still almost four months until the real thing, but we can celebrate Summerween.
This house has character.
A ninety-year-old portrait evokes an entire family history.
He makes an offering to the deceased.
Cara is a new art platform which is ad-free, "AI"-free, and won't "scrape" (steal) your stuff.
This is the place to learn all about dinosaur poo (found via Miss Cellania).
Close proximity to frequent firing of guns and artillery over periods of years can cause cumulative brain damage, which is now being seen in some veterans.
Boosting levels of telomerase reverse transcriptase can reverse some effects of aging, so far only in lab animals. It has not yet been tested in humans.
A study of creative thinking ability among students in Israel shows huge gaps between secular, religious, and Arab schools (the latter probably being even more steeped in religion). Girls also score higher than boys.
The number of US deaths from covid was probably much larger than the official figures recognize.
Denmark has introduced a tax on farting (there's actually a good reason).
This cartoon sums up the current China-Russia relationship.
Here's more on the ad campaign by one Australian state designed to gaslight women to be more submissive to certain men's demands.
Any pictures or information about your children that exists on the internet can be stolen by "AI" and widely exposed, no matter what privacy settings you use.
Nice house.
Use the correct names for Israeli cities.
This person exists, and is a complete idiot.
He has a response to forced-birthers on Twitter.
Don't fly near Turkey.
How much does it cost to make a two-thousand-dollar handbag?
Last week commenter NickM wondered how it would be possible to teach math from the Bible. Well, here are some Bible math problems that sound like fun.
Here's more on YouTube's "server-side ad injection" scheme to make ads harder to avoid. Ad-blocker developers are working on solutions to the problem; in the meantime, you can pretend you live in Uzbekistan.
If you have money at JP Morgan, pull it out, now. Don't wait for them to decide whether to start charging you just to have an account. They need to lose millions for even considering the idea.
There are now vending machines that sell gun ammunition, so far apparently only in Alabama and Oklahoma.
Do not do this. For lots of reasons.
Here's a short history of American Jews, and some evidence of an ominous future.
To find a romantic partner, get rid of the dating apps and get involved in the real world.
A bisexual woman discovers real Pride.
There is nothing wrong with killing home intruders.
Here are some things which are banned by the Bible.
Many of the great freedom fighters of history supported Zionism.
The Unitarian Universalist Church has been captured by a totalitarian mind-set, more intolerant of dissent than most conservative sects of Christianity are.
These doctors agree that side effects from cold medications are the most likely explanation for Biden's brief lapse into befuddlement during the debate.
Blogger Annie assesses the Supreme Court's presidential-immunity ruling. That ruling, like Dobbs, could well backfire on Republicans at the ballot box.
The New York Times is garbage. Stop paying attention to it. This blogger has had enough.
A mass vandalization of Jewish graves in Cincinnati is the latest sick manifestation of the Jew-hatred that has erupted in our country since October 7.
The breakdown of social communities in the US is helping fuel the appeal of authoritarian ideologies.
"The true genius of America has always been its capacity for self-correction."
If this means what it looks like it means, Trump is far worse than most of us thought.
They are actually, literally studying and testing the most effective ways to indoctrinate and brainwash your kids. This boy's school is engaged in indoctrination worthy of Mao or Stalin; the people responsible for what's described need to be fired.
Jamaal Bowman is a vile character who deserved to lose.
Like Bowman, far-right anti-Israel congressman Bob Good has been successfully primaried by a moderate challenger.
"The impulse makes sense. Disgust is an entirely appropriate emotional response right now."
In Arkansas -- yes, Arkansas -- enough signatures have been collected to put an abortion-rights amendment on the November ballot.
Portland State University is in the process of repairing the massive vandalism inflicted by Nazi students when they occupied it a few weeks ago. The total cost will be about three-quarters of a million dollars.
Oklahoma will allow children to skip some school classes in favor of Bible study, causing them to fall behind academically. The Satanic Temple is on the case.
No sane person wants a revolution.
Jeff Tiedrich has no more patience with the dump-Biden nonsense.
There's no such thing as an LGBTQ-etc-etc-etc "community", and the idea has dangerous implications.
We don't need any more men like this. In fact, we'd be better off with none.
This election will be different from 2016 -- the voters are wise to the media's bullshit.
We need to make the internet a place to visit, not a place to spend all our time on.
Another effort by an arrogant military officer to push Christianity on subordinates has been squelched by the MRFF.
A Jewish former New Yorker warns American Jews that the US is no longer safe.
Some just talk, others get things done.
Here's a closer look at why support for gay rights is now declining in Canada, which had long been a bastion of acceptance.
Kier Starmer is not the first non-religious prime minister of the UK -- there have been many others.
Starmer promises to maintain strong support for Ukraine.
The new British government should heed the warning left behind by Christopher Hitchens.
The Vatican has excommunicated archbishop Carlo Viganò, one of pope Francis's harshest critics within the Catholic Church. Right-wing Catholics are not happy and the war of words is escalating.
Tell the truth about the "Nakba".
This is what it's like being a woman in Afghanistan.
India is the world's fastest-growing large economy, and will remain so for some time.
More links at Fair and Unbalanced.
My posts this week: some truths and inspirations, and observations on Independence Day.
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Reminder: The Democrats' winning issue in this year's election is abortion rights. Period. As state-level wins on that issue piled up in the wake of Dobbs, activists declared that the left needs to stay laser-focused on it, because it's the key to beating Republicans across the board. Unfortunately recent events have shown that these same activists are all-too-easily distracted, dashing off hither and yon after the media red herring of the moment. It's unlikely that what happens this far before the election will impact it much, but when the election gets close and you all are doing this for real, remember -- if you're talking about something other than abortion rights, you're most likely wasting your time.
Discovery of the week: A surprising number of people didn't know what a "Gish gallop" is until they heard the term used to describe Trump's behavior during the debate. Well, I'm glad they know now. It's a useful concept.
Noteworthy about the British election: as soon as the results were clear, the Conservative prime minister conceded, congratulated his opponents, and promised a "peaceful and orderly" transfer of power "with goodwill on all sides". This is merely what one has a right to expect in any democracy, yet it makes a striking contrast with the Trumpist tantrums and threats we've been dealing with here since November 2020.
The reason the media hacks are desperately trying to keep the dump-Biden meme alive is that the media's main interest is to maximize page views (which increases what they can charge for advertising). Drama and controversy get clicks. And if they did somehow get the party to remove Biden as its candidate, they'd have a feast -- a convention full of infighting and personality clashes as the various contenders for the nomination fought it out, plus endless opportunities for posting the "Democrats in disarray" screeds they love. Don't be fooled. None of this is in the party's interest, nor the country's.
posted by Infidel753 at 12:46 AM
6 Comments:
The $2000 handbag... Do you know where most "fake" "designer"* goods are made... They are made by the same people in the same factories from the same material. How is this done? "Fake" overtime. Management in India hits the targets for their bosses in Europe, carries on and the excess goes to the grey market... I have heard this from a few middle-class South Asians. Basically the fashion houses get ripped-off**, the seamstresses are exploited, the punters get a bargain and the middle-men earn a nice bonus.
So your "fake" Calvin Klein shirt bought from a dodgy Cypriot*** is identical to one bought in a flashy store. It's an interesting philosophical point about the nature of identity.
*As if clothes from Primark just happened.
**Yeah, I know. I weep for them, I do...
***Nicosia is the place for this in Europe due to it's "interesting" sovereignty.
The Bilical maths questions are a bit poorly worded. "cubic litre" makes no sense. What is interesting is a lot of the Bilical sums presented - wives, concubines, foreskins etc... are round numbers in base-10. I thought that base-10 was curious.
As to transitions...
https://www.mid-day.com/news/world-news/article/Obama-has-lunch-with-4-presidents-27005
That wasn't too long ago...
I found the article about physicians' discussing the possibility of Biden's poor performance having been due to cold medicine of great interest. I had actually suggested that in my post-election piece: wouldn't it have been ironic if after all Trump's lies that he'd be facing a hyped-up Biden, the president was actually hindered by cold medicine?
Jeff Tiedrich mentioned cold medicine in the piece you linked to as though it was a fact.
But I haven't heard that from the president or his staff. Surely, if that were the case, they would have been eager to publicize it, I would think.
As always, thank you for linking to my post about the radical Supreme Court majority's presidential immunity ruling, which makes massive votes for Democrats up and down the ballot in November an even greater imperative.
NickM: Even the "real" stuff is fake, really. People are paying thousands for the cachet of a designer label, not the quality of the product. Still, most of that kind of stuff is bought by people with money to waste who are too vacuous to do anything better with it.
I'm not sure why base ten would be curious. It's pretty much universal because of the number of fingers humans have. I know a lot of Middle Eastern measuring systems are based on multiples of sixty, because it's easily divisible by so many other numbers, but numbers in the spoken languages are base ten and people tend to talk about even tens or hundreds of things when they're just giving a rough estimate rather than an exact count, same as we do.
I hope we can get back to normal politics and end this insane polarization and demonization of opponents. Constantly having these people running around with their hair on fire screaming that every election is a potential apocalypse is exhausting, and it's no wonder normal people are increasingly turned off of politics entirely. Well, purging crazy extremists like Bowman and Good is a step in the right direction.
Annie: I believe it was Biden's people who reported that he had a cold. It would be assumed that he was taking some kind of medication for it, and those doctors were merely referring to known effects of some medications of that type. Tiedrich may have been referring to some other report I'm not aware of.
Thanks for doing the post on the Supreme Court ruling. Somebody needs to get the word out. Myself, I don't have enough legal knowledge to assess such things.
I'd never heard of The Gish Gallop. It reminds me of The Chewbacca Defence.
The problem we have in the UK is "Islamophobia" has essentially and successfully rebranded itself as a form of racism. Most UK Muslims are of South Asian origin so, the "logic" goes like this. You criticise Islam and most Muslims are South Asian you are being racist. It is very effective. I hate this because Islam has nothing to do with race. Indeed it claims to be the one true faith for everyone.
And, yeah, oddly enough, my first reaction to Biden's "glitch" was he'd overdone it on the Nytol. That was before I heard anyone else suggest it. It just seemed obvious. But... I do think he's too old. It's a very physical job (all that travel). Also it makes him seem weak. Regardless of the truth of that perceptions matter. THe USA needs a prez who isn't just a badass but looks a badass. It shouldn't be this way but I think a lot of people would like someone who looks like they could kick the shit out of The Gremlin in The Kremlin in a cage fight.
What you need to deal with this "Islamophobia is racism" nonsense is some prominent people who aren't afraid to point out that it's complete bullshit, the way Rowling, Keen, and a few others have done with the trans bullshit. There's Richard Dawkins, of course, but I can't immediately think of other major figures in the UK who are willing to call out Islam without hemming and hawing. How well known is Pat Condell?
It won't last, in any case. In the US, accusations of racism have been so ridiculously over-used that outside the woke alternate-reality bubble they're almost a joke. Ludicrous claims like saying that criticizing a religion is racist will just get the UK to that point faster. My impression is that most ordinary people in the UK tend to be more blunt in calling out bullshit when they see it than here. It's only the UK's political class and academics who are cowards afraid to notice the reality staring them in the face.
I'd rather we had a younger candidate too, but Biden is certainly up to the job (he's gotten far more done than most presidents do). In any case, it's a moot point. He's not going to step aside, and replacing him would involve huge logistical problems and would almost certainly increase the risk of losing to Trump. Replacing a president or presidential candidate is not something done as casually here as replacing a prime minister or party leader in the UK. Biden and Trump are the candidates and that's all there is to it. The party needs to quit fussing around about something that isn't going to happen and focus on what it has to do to win the election.
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