The unimportant news thread

[Todd]

France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to prison in corruption trial

[Todd]

Bye, Bismarck: 144 cities could lose status as metro areas

[DavidW]

Digital outsells vinyl in US

Key takeaways:
(a) vinyl outsold cds by revenue, but...
(b) cds outsold vinyl by volume...
(c) and cds and digital downloads collectively outsold vinyl

And to no one's surprise streaming outsold all of them by a very wide margin.

[Todd]

The real takeaway is gross revenue for all media, which went poof.



Hence, ridiculous prices for so many pop music concert tickets and the severely reduced number of big name, big band recordings by the erstwhile majors in the classical space.  Since I have access to more recorded music at a lower inflation adjusted price than at any previous time in my life, it's all good.

Napster really did kill the record business.  Yay!

[DavidW]

That is shockingly small.  No wonder performers are financing their own recordings.  Nobody spends money on music anymore!  This makes me think that publishers do have the right idea in avoiding Kindle Unlimited.

[Todd]

JPG File Sells for $69 Million, as 'NFT Mania' Gathers Pace

[DavidW]

A bipartisan group of senators is once again trying to make daylight savings time permanent year round.

[steve ridgway]

A bipartisan group of senators is once again trying to make daylight savings time permanent year round.

Bah, it's bad enough claiming noon occurs at nine minutes past one in the summer.

[JBS]

Bah, it's bad enough claiming noon occurs at nine minutes past one in the summer.

If it's the midpoint of the solar day (sunrise-sunset) noon will usually not be at 12 noon. In my locale it was at 12:30 PM today, and will be at 1:30 PM on Sunday because of the switch to DST.

(I have an app that gives me this sort of information.)

[steve ridgway]

If it's the midpoint of the solar day (sunrise-sunset) noon will usually not be at 12 noon. In my locale it was at 12:30 PM today, and will be at 1:30 PM on Sunday because of the switch to DST.

Exactly. I like to remain aware of the discrepancy between human convention and physical reality.

[MusicTurner]

A recent survey here in DK has shown that for each kilometer motorway/freeway, the car tyres will typically release two tonnes of microplast - per year.

That is 60% of the total, annual pollution of microplast here, and 600 times of that constituted by cosmetics.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A recent survey here in DK has shown that for each kilometer motorway/freeway, the car tyres will typically release two tonnes of microplast - per year.

That is 60% of the total, annual pollution of microplast here, and 600 times of that constituted by cosmetics.

 

[DavidW]

A recent survey here in DK has shown that for each kilometer motorway/freeway, the car tyres will typically release two tonnes of microplast - per year.

That is 60% of the total, annual pollution of microplast here, and 600 times of that constituted by cosmetics.

Makes me feel better that I walk everywhere except the grocery store.

[MusicTurner]

Yes, those are quite incredible data ...

[Florestan]

I commute every weekend --- and sometimes even during weekdays --- back and forth between Bucharest and a village 120 km away. I mean, I, my wife and our son plus the corresponding luggages. Tell me we could do it as fast and convenient by public transportation instead of by our car., especially in these times of social distancing 

[DavidW]

I commute every weekend --- and sometimes even during weekdays --- back and forth between Bucharest and a village 120 km away. I mean, I, my wife and our son plus the corresponding luggages. Tell me we could do it as fast and convenient by public transportation instead of by our car., especially in these times of social distancing 

Oh that is not that bad.  I know people who make that same distance commute Monday through Friday for work!

[MusicTurner]

Microplast is a problem that is gaining increased attention, and this is likely something that is going to influence future car designs, and probably regulations too, like it has been - and will continue to be - the case with air pollution. One might be able to reduce the pollution effect, use more sustainable materials, design vehicles differently, make public or shared transportation means more attractive, etc.

[North Star]

Alabama House votes to end yoga ban, but don't say "namaste"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) A decades-old ban on yoga in Alabama public schools could be coming to an end.

The Alabama House of Representatives voted 73-25 to approve a bill that will authorize school systems to decide if they want yoga to be allowed in K-12 schools. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.
Yoga done in school would be limited to poses and stretches. The bill says the use of chanting, mantras and teaching the greeting "namaste" would be forbidden.
The Alabama Board of Education voted in 1993 to prohibit yoga, hypnosis and meditation in public school classrooms. The ban was pushed by conservative groups.
Democratic Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika sponsored the bill. He said he understood some gym teachers had been teaching yoga in class before they realized it was banned, and others wanted to offer it, particularly during virtual learning.
[...]
Under the bill, the moves and exercises taught to students must have exclusively English names. Gray said students would also have the option to not participate and instead do an alternative activity.
The 1993 Alabama yoga ban got new attention in 2018 when an old document circulated listing yoga along with games like tag among inappropriate activities in gym class.
Twenty-five representatives in the 105-member House voted against the bill. Gray said some House members said they, got a lot emails about it being part of Hinduism.

Though it turns out that Yoga has been allowed, but you had to call it Pilates, which can only contain Yoga technique poses/exercises, but Yoga was still apparently prohibited despite of being allowed under a German name, and now you can teach Yoga but still absolutely cannot teach foreign languages or culture. Attached a screen capture of a video from 2018 about the yoga ban.

[DavidW]

That is absolutely bizarre, what could they have against it?  Is it hurting their inbreeding program?

Yoga is known to greatly help with blood pressure, heart health and mental wellness.  It doesn't hurt anyone.

[Florestan]

Oh that is not that bad.  I know people who make that same distance commute Monday through Friday for work!

Yes, of course, but the idea is that one can't do it fast, comfortable and safe by public transportation.