2024-06-21
etc
Horseshit
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The Anglosphere Is Depressed - The Atlantic
The argument that smartphones and social media are contributing to the rise in teen mental distress is strong. A number of observational and experimental studies show that teen anxiety started rising just as smartphones, social media, and front-facing cameras contributed to a wave of negative emotionality that seems to be sweeping the world. But I have one small reason to question the strongest version of the smartphone thesis. You can find a summary of it on page 5 of this year’s World Happiness Report, a survey of thousands of people across more than 140 countries. “Between 2006 and 2023, happiness among Americans under 30 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand declined significantly [and] also declined in Western Europe,” the report says. But here’s the catch: In the rest of the world, under-30 happiness mostly increased in this period. “Happiness at every age has risen sharply in Central and Eastern Europe,” the report says. “In the former Soviet Union and East Asia too there have been large increases in happiness at every age.” This is pretty weird. Smartphones are a global phenomenon. But apparently the rise in youth anxiety is not. In some of the largest and most trusted surveys, it appears to be largely occurring in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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We’ve Hit Peak Denial. Here’s Why We Can’t Turn Away From Reality | Scientific American
Objectively speaking, we are living through a dumpster fire of a historical moment. Right now more than one million people are displaced and at risk of starvation in Gaza, as are millions more in Sudan. Wars are on the rise around the globe, and 2023 saw the most civilian casualties in almost 15 years. H5N1 bird flu has jumped to cows, several farm workers have been infected, and scientists are warning about another potential pandemic. According to data from wastewater, the second biggest COVID surge occurred this winter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least 24,000 people have died of COVID so far in 2024. Last year was the hottest ever and recorded the highest number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Not to mention that over the past few years, mass shootings have significantly increased, we’ve seen unparalleled attacks on democracy and science, and mental health issues have skyrocketed.
what happens when overlooking and tolerating greater levels of harm becomes a shared cultural habit? Like the proverbial frog in boiling water, we acclimate to ignoring more and caring less at our own peril. In the short term, living in a state of peak denial helps us cope. In the long run, it will be our undoing. Because the danger here is desensitization: that we meet this unprecedented litany of “wicked problems,” from climate change to the rise of fascism, with passive acceptance rather than urgent collective action.
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Monolith outside Vegas may have been in desert for years
According to Monolith Tracker, an online community that maintains a map of monolith appearances across the globe, the monolith spotted by the Metropolitan Police Department over the weekend was first identified in December 2020.
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Lego went from humble toy and destroyer of bare feet to black market item
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Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable—but You’re Eating Them Wrong | WIRED
In December 2023, reports emerged that US dietary guidelines might change to declassify potatoes as a vegetable, mirroring the approach taken in Britain. There was such an uproar that US Department of Agriculture secretary Thomas Vilsack was forced to write a letter reassuring senators that his agency had no such plans. That reclassification may have failed, but the potato has had a spectacular fall from grace. Once this miraculous nutrient-dense vegetable was the fuel of human civilization. Now the spud in the US has become synonymous with a garbage, industrialized food system that pours profits into a handful of companies at the expense of people’s health. America’s favorite vegetable is facing a Sophie’s Choice moment. Should we accept that fresh spuds have lost the fight against the tide of fries, hash browns, and waffles, or is there hope for a potato renaissance? Can the humble spud achieve the rehabilitation it deserves?
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Newly Confirmed Jumping Leeches Are the Worst Fear You Didn’t Know You Had.
Electric / Self Driving cars
Obit
Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering
Musk
Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp
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(July 2023) Said to have passed peer review and due for publication soon: A Systematic Review of Autopsy Findings in Deaths After Covid-19 Vaccination
The consistency seen among cases in this review with known COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, their mechanisms, and related excess death, coupled with autopsy confirmation and physician-led death adjudication, suggests there is a high likelihood of a causal link between COVID-19 vaccines and death in most cases.
Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation
Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts
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Researchers generate black hole ‘plasma fireballs’ on Earth | University of Oxford
an international team of scientists has successfully created high-density plasma beams in the lab containing around 10 trillion electron-positron pairs. Such a large number means that the beam behaves as a true plasma (with wave-like activity) and not just a collection of particles. ‘The laboratory generation of plasma “fireballs” composed of matter, antimatter, and photons is a research goal at the forefront of high-energy-density science,’ says lead author Charles Arrowsmith, from the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. ‘But the experimental difficulty of producing electron-positron pairs in sufficiently high numbers has, to this point, limited our understanding to purely theoretical studies.’
Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising
TechSuck / Geek Bait
AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World
Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO
Crypto con games
Economicon / Business / Finance
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VC predicts the industry is heading for a massive and enduring contraction
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‘Zombie mortgages’ come back to haunt thousands of homeowners now facing foreclosure.
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After losses, SoftBank's Masayoshi Son says he's ready for his next big bet
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Nvidia's Ascent to Most Valuable Company Has Echoes of Dot-Com Boom
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Cyberattacks have forced car dealerships to paper for a second day
Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making
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New York Slams the Brakes on the Enshittification of Restaurant Reservations
Earlier this month, New York legislators passed the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act. It still has to be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, but assuming it becomes law, any third party selling a reservation could be fined up to $1,000 per violation. I understand if this sounds like a problem for rich people. In many cases, it is. Still, I believe most people like to treat themselves to a fancy dinner on a birthday or anniversary.
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Sidewalks Are Not "Pedestrian Ways"
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Biden to ban US sales of Kaspersky software over ties to Russia
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Lawmaker says watchdog’s report on FDA handling of infant formula crisis confirms panel’s findings.
The report by the Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Department comes two years after the FDA’s investigation into the Abbott baby formula contamination that caused nine infant deaths and triggered a nationwide formula shortage in 2022. “The long-awaited audit by HHS’ OIG confirms findings by the House Oversight Committee that the 2022 nationwide infant formula crisis was exacerbated by dysfunction and delay within the FDA,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, Michigan Republican and chair of the subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services.
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DJI drone ban passes in U.S. House – 'Countering CCP Drones Act'
Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security
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During the conspiracy, more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges. The multi-year investigation into this conspiracy—dubbed “Operation Fortune Runner”—resulted in a superseding indictment returned on April 4 and unsealed on Monday charging a total of 24 defendants with one count of conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
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A Judge Made Houston the Top Bankruptcy Court and Helped His Girlfriend Cash In
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FBI Stats Show Crime Still Declining, Despite the Assertions of Alarmists
Opportunists and alarmists are claiming crime rates are spiking again, backing up these assertions by pointing to highly local anomalies. They then make this worse by conjuring up their favorite ideological boogeymen to support their claims about the Dangerous States of America. They claim “progressive” prosecutors are increasing crime rates by not prosecuting enough low-level crimes and prosecuting too many police officers. That claim might make sense if there were actually enough “progressive” prosecutors to have this sort of effect. But there are thousands of prosecutors across the nation, ranging from the county to the federal level and only a couple dozen of them could generously be considered to be “progressive.” They also claim “defunding” law enforcement agencies has led to spikes in crimes because there’s not enough money being spent on cops. This, again, is bullshit. There has been no serious “defunding” of any law enforcement agency anywhere. At most, some funds have been diverted to support the formation of units composed of mental health professionals to handle distress calls cops probably shouldn’t be handling anyway.
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FBI raids Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's home, 3 other locations: source
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Shotspotter NYC Surveillance Tech on Shootings Gives False Alarms 87% of Time
External Security / Militaria / Diplomania
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Fewer Explosives Experts Hamper Europe's Post-Ukraine Rearmament
Western governments’ rapidly growing defense spending sounds like a straightforward equation: More spending equals more weapons. But skilled weapons workers are in short supply, especially explosives experts, and without a sufficiently big bang behind them, even the most sophisticated weaponry is pointless. But blowing things up is not learned in a quick crash course. We need more explosives professors.
World
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PO scandal: BBC makes unsubstantiated claim that the data leak was an accident
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Public servants uneasy as government 'spy' robot prowls federal offices
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I have been traveling in Canada recently, and much of it is nearly unrecognizable from even a year ago. Urban sprawl has exploded around major cities like Toronto and Ottawa, with new developments appearing so fast that even residents can't keep track. The cause? An unprecedented policy experiment that is finally slowing. The Canadian government, faced with flatlining GDP, a declining birthrate, and an aging population, has instituted some of the most aggressive immigration policies in the OECD, and in recent Canadian history.
Russia Bad / Ukraine War
China
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China to see biggest millionaire exodus in 2024 as many head to U.S.
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Silicon Valley steps up staff screening over Chinese espionage threat
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‘Only Pirates Do This’: China Wields Axes and Knives in South China Sea Fight.
The Chinese coast guard came in small boats with axes, long knives and spears. They used the crude weapons to slash and puncture the Philippine military’s rubber craft. One Chinese boat rammed a Philippine boat at high speed, severing the thumb of a Filipino seaman who was holding on to the side of his ride. During Monday’s frantic events in the South China Sea, the Chinese coast guard crew also boarded a Philippine boat, smashed its outboard motor and communications equipment, and grabbed the Filipino crew’s cellphones. They seized seven disassembled rifles that were packed in cases for delivery to a Philippine outpost, the Philippine military said.
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Philippines secretly reinforces ship at centre of South China Sea dispute
The Philippines has secretly reinforced a dilapidated warship marooned on a South China Sea reef that is central to an increasingly dangerous dispute with Beijing, according to six people familiar with the operation. In recent months, the Philippine military has conducted missions to reinforce the Sierra Madre, which is lodged on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, the people said. It did so due to rising concern that the rusting ship was in danger of breaking apart. The Philippines ran the Sierra Madre aground in 1999 to help reinforce its claim to the reef, over which China also asserts sovereignty as part of an expansive claim — opposed by its neighbours — over most of the South China Sea.
Health / Medicine
Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda
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Climate activists were arrested after spraying orange paint on Stonehenge
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Grolar bear hybrids in NWT all traced back to same 'strange' female polar bear
"It's really important that we keep monitoring these polar bears so that we can see if hybridization begins to ramp up," she said. The western Arctic is one place where that's more likely to happen, she said, because it's one of the few areas in the world where grizzly and polar bear habitats have been starting to overlap as the climate changes.
Steve Baryluk, a wildlife manager with the N.W.T. government who works in the Beaufort Delta, said it seemed like the family of "tightly closed" bears had a "preference for something a little different." Rivkin suggested the initial mother may have been "pretty strange" but also pointed out that while female polar bears do have "some level of choice" about who they mate with, size makes a difference. If a male grizzly is interested in mating with a female polar bear, "that's probably what's going to happen," she said.
- Lecture her about "racial purity" and explain how hybrids mess up the affirmative action statistics.
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EPA rule limiting certain 'forever chemicals' in drinking water is challenged
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The Weatherman Who Tried to Bring Climate Science to a Red State
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Record high temperatures sweep US north-east as tropical storm hits Texas