The unimportant news thread

[Todd]

US economy shrinks in second quarter, signaling unofficial start of recession

Hey, it's from the Graun, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Todd]

Blots on a Field?

A neuroscience image sleuth finds signs of fabrication in scores of Alzheimer's articles, threatening a reigning theory of the disease

[Todd]

On navy day, Putin says United States is main threat to Russia

Duh.

[LKB]

On navy day, Putin says United States is main threat to Russia

Duh.

He's obviously a " very stable genius ", just like one of his biggest fans here.

[Todd]

He's obviously a " very stable genius ", just like one of his biggest fans here.

Who on GMG is a Putin fan?

[LKB]

Who on GMG is a Putin fan?

Ok, l was not specific in my meaning so: Not " here " on GMG, " here " in the USA.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Cognitive decline linked to ultraprocessed food.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/health/ultraprocessed-food-dementia-study-wellness/index.html

[Spotted Horses]

Cognitive decline linked to ultraprocessed food.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/health/ultraprocessed-food-dementia-study-wellness/index.html

I don't dispute the basic premise that eating junk is bad for you, but what is the definition of ultra-processed food? The article cites sausage, for example, but is there no distinction between factory made sausage and sausage made from raw ingredients in your butcher shop the morning you bought it?

[Todd]

I don't dispute the basic premise that eating junk is bad for you, but what is the definition of ultra-processed food? The article cites sausage, for example, but is there no distinction between factory made sausage and sausage made from raw ingredients in your butcher shop the morning you bought it?

It is CNN clickbait.

[Todd]

Pretty substantial yield curve inversion.

[greg]

There's a recent LA times article about Americans working remotely in Mexico, and there's posters in Mexico city?IIRC saying they should go home, that they are a plague, etc.
Reason why is the US is too expensive, but remote work still pays a lot if employed by an American company, living in Mexico is more affordable.
Kinda an inverted version of what's been happening here.
So it was quite funny to hear about.

[Todd]

IIRC saying they should go home, that they are a plague, etc.

It's not just the Mexicans complaining:

Welcome to Portugal, the new expat haven. Californians, please go home

[greg]

It's not just the Mexicans complaining:

Welcome to Portugal, the new expat haven. Californians, please go home

Interesting. At least some of them aren't coming to Texas.
But you can't blame them for that strategy, it's smart.
Seems like people making $100k+ in US tech industry, especially Silicon Valley, is going to cause gentrification no matter what, or where they go.
So not sure where they could go, it's not like they want to cause damage...

[Todd]

So not sure where they could go, it's not like they want to cause damage...

They can stay in California.  Or move elsewhere.  (Yesterday I heard someone from Kentucky say the same thing.)  Californians have infested Oregon for years, gentrifying the larger cities, which when combined with the unique, local Metro government layer that controls land use and development in the Portland metro area, has driven up housing costs to unsustainable extremes, which in turn fuels the homeless crisis in the area.  Of course, personally, I have benefitted financially since my home price now resembles what Bay Area homes went for earlier this century, and my equity is stupid high.  I live in my house.  I can assure you it is not worth the market price, even in a cooling market.

[Brian]

It's not just the Mexicans complaining:

Welcome to Portugal, the new expat haven. Californians, please go home

I know a couple who retired to Portugal last year. The government is welcoming - it seems to totally not question whether retirees who are going to get on government healthcare should be denied residency - and, at least in their telling, they have not yet run into the "Americans go home" mentality. Of course, they are also middle-class Texans who moved into a small flat in a century-old building. They didn't buy a villa or something.

[Todd]

The government is welcoming

The article indicates that the government has formulated specific policies to attract foreigners to the country, with its declining native population.  The slant on the article is that it is the fancier Californians who are inviting a good portion of the unwanted attention.  As always when formulating policy, be careful what you wish for.

[Karl Henning]

I know a couple who retired to Portugal last year. The government is welcoming - it seems to totally not question whether retirees who are going to get on government healthcare should be denied residency - and, at least in their telling, they have not yet run into the "Americans go home" mentality. Of course, they are also middle-class Texans who moved into a small flat in a century-old building. They didn't buy a villa or something.

My friend, fellow composer and hornist Pam Marshall and her partner are pretty much gearing up to move there. It seems to me that her partner, David, given the nature of his interests, will not feel very displaced by the move. By contrast, I think Pam as a musician will be severely displaced, moving somewhere where she has no musical network as yet, and needing to establish one across cultural and language barriers. It is not a move I would make at this time of life.

[Todd]

China conducts 'precision missile strikes' in Taiwan Strait

[MusicTurner]

Interesting with the Alex Jones leak during the court case against him: two years of text messages on one of his phones, with generally embarrassing content, maybe also from around the Capitol events, the Trump entourage, etc. Apparently it happened due to a mistake from his lawyer, 12 days ago. But statements made by him during the last 12 days obviously became lies, when faced with the content of that phone today.

Informing about the leak during the trial: https://twitter.com/hahnalytics/status/1554946282011205643
'No, you're on trial': https://twitter.com/Tr00peRR/status/1555146136012423169

Accuses judge on TV and denies it: https://twitter.com/NatetheLawyer/status/1554911485004070912


Some are suggesting however, that the leak might sabotage the court case against him, at least temporarily, due to the lawyer's lack of responsibility, a resulting intrusion into privacy, or other reasons. At the court, it was pointed out however, that there were actually no accompanying secrecy statements to the sent ~packet.

Supposedly he'll appeal anyway. There are also some questions in relation to liberty of speech, and the current judge's attitude. 

Text messages have shown that he made up to $ 800,000 per day via 'Infowars' years ago, so economically, it has been very profitable for him to cultivate his public.

[Todd]

After repeating early COVID mistakes, US now has the world's biggest monkeypox outbreak