The unimportant news thread

[ritter]

Reminds me of something....



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/08/jair-bolsonaro-supporters-storm-brazils-presidential-palace-and-supreme-court

[Todd]

Any horns?

[71 dB]

Brazil got their January 8th.

Oligarchs have figured out it is easy to brainwash low intelligence individuals to overturn (or at least try to) elections if the "leftist" dude wins. Very bad for democracy in the World.

[Todd]

The Satanic Temple, which is dedicating the "largest satanic gathering in history" to the mayor of Boston, requires masks



The Friday night mixer should be a hell of a good time.

[Florestan]

Brazil got their January 8th.

Oligarchs have figured out it is easy to brainwash low intelligence individuals to overturn (or at least try to) elections if the "leftist" dude wins. Very bad for democracy in the World.

As in the USA case, if this was a genuine attempt to overturn the elections it was an extremely ill-planned and ill-executed one. One does not overturn elections by brainwashing a few thousand low-intelligence individuals into mindless and pointless devastation of empty official buildings. One does it by a succesful military coup. In both cases, the military did absolutely nothing, which means either such a move was not even considered (the most probable case in the USA) or if considered by Bolsonaro and his clique, was not considered at all or rejected by the Brazilian military.

As for Bolsonaro himself, one gotta love how when he won, the Brazilian electronic voting system was secure enough, but when da Silva won it suddenly became vulnerable.

[Todd]

Conductor Namechecked by Cate Blanchett in 'Tár' Slams Film

That conductor would be Marin Alsop.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

 A 76 years old makes his debut as a naturist. 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/08/a-new-start-after-60-i-became-a-naturist-at-75-and-it-felt-like-freedom?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Todd]

Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive

[drogulus]

    Why Inflation Has Been Falling...

More vacations and entertainment, and fewer renovations and home improvements (and much less "cocooning") have nothing to do with FOMC rates. CPI inflation has been coming down because the national economy has reopened, and our buying behaviors are normalizing.

     So what were the rate hikes for?

     It's "responsibility theater". In libraservative economics monetary policy is strong and the Fed is capable of adjusting for just about any supply/demand divergence. It can brake and accelerate, and typically accelerates too much and brakes too late. In spite of having virtually identical beliefs to Fed perma-critics about inflation causes/cures, the Fed chief is always wrong. I've spent years reading and listening to the perma-critcs and thousands of hours of "all eyes on the Fed" rhetoric and it never deviates. Talk about No Hugging/No Learning!

     In the world, where most of us live, monetary policy is weak, and we see that repeatedly. Low rates don't cause borrowing. There's no "punch bowl" for the Fed to take away. That's why inflation only showed up when we got supply problems all over the real economy.

     Years and years of ZIRP did N-O-T-H-I-N-G!! If libraservatism can't get inflation when we want it how is the same doctrine going to provide a cure?

     Only real economy disruptions can give you what libraservatives call "insane money printing".

     I'm pissed at the world. Inflation lasted a little longer than I thought it would. All praise/blame be to Powell! Still, I'll take my chances here rather than a Dogma House.

     

[Todd]

Intel Quietly Resumes Russia Support, Unblocks Software Downloads (Updated with Microsoft Comment)

[Todd]

China's first population drop in six decades sounds alarm on demographic crisis

[Karl Henning]

The gist of this
appears to be: if scientists don't use a word, who needs it?

[SimonNZ]

The gist of this
appears to be: if scientists don't use a word, who needs it?

Good. I've always hated those stupid terms.

And I've noticed that David Attenborough et al never use them.

[Florestan]

The gist of this
appears to be: if scientists don't use a word, who needs it?

This was the first time in my whole life that I encountered those terms, but I'm not a native English speaker. Looks like native English-speaking biologists have not heard of them, either --- and actually the article makes it clear that it's a hunting jargon unlikely to be known, or used, by people not in the branch. Therefore, to advocate for the removal of those terms from everyday vocabulary is an exercise in futility: they are not part of everyday vocabulary to begin with and I doubt that people whose everyday vocabulary contains them will drop them just because someone at Audubon.org says they should.

[Papy Oli]

Good. I've always hated those stupid terms.

And I've noticed that David Attenborough et al never use them.

Ditto.

Does that mean I can claim back all the points I have lost in lockdown online pub quizzes because of those stupid words ? 

[Jo498]

It was a late medieval way of gaining distinction? or making fun? that eventually ran amuck, I believe. I was told the more common of these strange "animal collectives", probably when I studied in the US, apparently because this was one of the humorous things some people would tell foreigners as higher subtleties of English.

[Karl Henning]

A news site used AI to write articles, and it was a journalistic disaster

Raise your hand if you're surprised!

[SimonNZ]

related:

'This song sucks': Nick Cave responds to ChatGPT song written in style of Nick Cave

[SimonNZ]

Texas Republican Wants Food Made Of Aborted Fetuses Labeled

"AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Republican wants to make foods containing material from aborted human fetuses "clearly and conspicuously labeled" — even though such products do not exist.   

The proposed law, authored by state Sen. Bob Hall, says food and medicine would have to be labeled if it contained or was manufactured with human fetal tissue or if it was the product of research that used such tissue. The bill defines human fetal tissue as "tissue, cells, or organs obtained from an aborted unborn child."

"Unfortunately, many Texans are unknowingly consuming products that either contain human fetal parts or were developed using human fetal parts," read a statement from Hall's office. "While some may not be bothered by this, there are many Texans with religious or moral beliefs that would oppose consumption or use of these products." [...]

[...]Food containing human fetal tissue — which, again, does not exist — could meet the definition of cannibalism, which no federal law criminalizes and most states do not regulate."

[Karl Henning]

Texas Republican Wants Food Made Of Aborted Fetuses Labeled

"AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Republican wants to make foods containing material from aborted human fetuses "clearly and conspicuously labeled" — even though such products do not exist. 

The proposed law, authored by state Sen. Bob Hall, says food and medicine would have to be labeled if it contained or was manufactured with human fetal tissue or if it was the product of research that used such tissue. The bill defines human fetal tissue as "tissue, cells, or organs obtained from an aborted unborn child."

"Unfortunately, many Texans are unknowingly consuming products that either contain human fetal parts or were developed using human fetal parts," read a statement from Hall's office. "While some may not be bothered by this, there are many Texans with religious or moral beliefs that would oppose consumption or use of these products." [...]

[...]Food containing human fetal tissue — which, again, does not exist — could meet the definition of cannibalism, which no federal law criminalizes and most states do not regulate."

Pinheads on Parade.

Separately: The big problem with plant-based meat: The 'meat' part