TheVat

Seeing this article in The Guardian today, prompted me to think about aspects of freedom where the worst aspects of human nature are grossly amplified.... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/18/polymarket-gamblers-threaten-israeli-journalist-missile-strike-wager While I want the Internet to be as free as possible, I would also see it as a public good if behavior like this were cracked down on, and countries coming together to restrict online gambling. I mean, let's face it: a lot of restrictive laws only exist because of rotten apples like these. Such laws don't affect most of us, and it reminds those they do affect that maximum freedom is only achieved when people can police themselves. When you fail to restrain your worst impulses, then the consequence is that others will step in and do so, usually in a very unpleasant way. If that consequence is not there, then the wolves will gradually take over.

The excerpt does mention aerobic exercise benefits, which body building mostly is not. Hope this isn't about "looksmaxxing," that shallow, narcissistic and often self harming web fad led by "Clavicular." That's a destructive trend which will leave young men anxious and miserable and trapped in their self-obsession and distorted body image.

Re thread title, A moment of thought might suggest that wearing heavy headgear would most likely strengthen neck muscles. IIRC, Mark Zuckerberg has promoted something like this. Here's a humorous article on Mark's thicker neck and embrace of the manosphere....I believe the composition of his brain will become clear as you read. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/18/mark-zuckerberg-masculine-energy

My experience is that Independents (currently 45% of RVs) are often more likely to inform you they're Independents, often expressing a gleeful disapproval of the partisan goat rodeo. The least likely to share affiliation are those who live where their party is a small minority. As others note, those who are most intensely partisan are also those most caught up in a culture war, so I would think they reveal themselves in myriad and obvious ways. They are out to either troll the Libtards or troll the cryptofascist racist death cult. 😉 I am one of the 45% and dislike both American political parties, which both seem very cozy with billionaires and both focused on short term solutions and the next election cycles, except for a few genuine public servants like Bernie Sanders (who is, ahem, an Independent). You can probably guess the party I end up voting for on the principle of LOTE. That said, if we ever have a candidate who is genuinely about ending US foreign interventions (and "spreading democracy") and shrinking our role as World Cop and fast tracking renewables, then I would vote for them even if their party was the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party.

Still getting a paywall, even with the unlocked url. Ezra Klein is usually a paragon of clarity. The Iranians do seem quite rational to me. Of course, almost any foreign government looks Spockian, set next to the current US regime.

As other noted, things that aren't inherently political. "Have you switched to bamboo toilet paper?" The Right seems to have signed on to a lot of cultural posturing that's about not giving a shite. (or what you wipe it with)

I don't understand BECs quite well enough to be confused. I don't have to know my legs are attached in order to run away from a tiger.

This forum is provided for members to test BB code, learn how to use the various forum functions, and generally get to grips with the system. All options are turned on, but posts do not count towards your total. 🤨

Cool. It's often hard to define basic concepts without lapsing into tautologies. I've seen this also with definitions of time. TIL what all these tiny islands are near the Strait of Hormuz. https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-islands-strait-hormuz-oil-trump-1b3e770e61c6a05d3e078223e15b20b2 I had definitely not heard of Greater and Lesser Tunb.

Rarely do I encounter a better reason for reading journals. Regarding the side topic of scientists masturbating racehorses or dissecting dolphin clitori, I think an enjoyable day can be spent collecting cougar poo... USGSGenetic analysis of scats reveals minimum number and sex...Recent records of mountain lions Puma concolor and concurrent declines in desert bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis mexicana on Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, United States, have prompted investRecent records of mountain lions Puma concolor and concurrent declines in desert bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis mexicana on Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, United States, have prompted investigations to estimate the number of mountain lions occurring there. We performed noninvasive genetic analyses and identified species, individuals, and sex from scat samples collected from the Kofa and Castle Dome Mountains. From 105 scats collected, we identified a minimum of 11 individual mountain lions. These individuals consisted of six males, two females and three of unknown sex. Three of the 11 mountain lions were identified multiple times over the study period. These estimates supplement previously recorded information on mountain lions in an area where they were historically considered only transient. We demonstrate that noninvasive genetic techniques, especially when used in conjunction with camera-trap and radiocollaring methods, can provide additional and reliable information to wildlife managers, particularly on secretive species like the mountain lion.

Worth asking if ordinary Iranian citizens really buy into all this eschatological crap. I doubt it but am open to survey evidence. My impression is that in the US, even conservative states, most people do not believe in dominion theology (the broader category of those who believe a Christian theocracy across all the globe is destined) and consider the dominionists to be kooks. Unfortunately the military does seem to be attracting a lot of Christian nationalists in its recruiting, as well as right-wing partisans generally. While many of those might not believe the End Times hogwash they are in a military structure where they "go along to get along."

LOL. If you have a string of several Cavell vans, it's a Cavell-cade.

Or it could be this avian species, though the writer finds that the expulsion of air from the cloaca is not a true fart, i.e. discharge of intestinal gas Michael WhiteheadDoes Australia’s farting bird pass the sniff test?Legend has it that skulking on Austalia’s forest floors is a bird which forages for earthworms by farting. The hapless worms are so startled by the sensory assault of a Bassian thrush’s…

One of these days, this science could save your life! I put that in a search engine and it backfired.

Just as well, given the Palindrome Police tend to impose stiff fines for using extremely obscure geographical names. Giving gnats adipose tissue is okay, but you don't want to send people running for the nearest atlas or encyclopedia. E.g. if my audience is mostly British I need to consider they may not be familiar with a small Idaho town named Pocatello, however seductive that assemblage of letters may be. And it is. Hmmm. Or maybe it's like Scrabble and anything formally recognized as a word is fair use. DK. Barcarolle? Taco? Pocatello, Ra? Crab?

I don't get it. But I was going to guess nine. So I was a little off.

Heh. On a less amusing note, researchers studied types of AI deception like in-context scheming, alignment faking and sandbagging. Based on recent news about Anthropic's ethical spine wrt to misuse of AI, I had hoped Claude (Opus III) would do well. It did not do well at all. Apollo ResearchFrontier Models are Capable of In-Context Scheming – Apol...Apollo Research evaluated frontier models for in-context scheming capabilities. We found that multiple frontier models are capable of in-context scheming when strongly nudged to pursue a goal (and som

I'm simply going to be happy all day now, on the strength of knowing there is a real website called The Human Flatus Atlas. Based on the data so far, I'm a proud "hydrogen hyperproducer." The only way to cut output is, ironically, to cut the cheese.

I guess that you don't mean just the Peano axioms? That would be too easy.

And I just replied to a bot, didn't I? Puzzles are hard for me to resist.

Emily shares thoughts on the Middle East: Loot net Torah silo, medevac an Israeli, oil ears in a cave, demolish a rotten tool.

Har. It's funny I got the joke given I'm not into either comic books or the film franchise. Must be some osmotic process, being around geeks or nerds. Yep, it's not really all that funny. If the girl's power is to cure paraplegics, it would also have to include some psychic force which erases their memory of being disabled.

There are several functions, since SFN moved to a new host, which operate pretty slowly. When something appears not to respond, I usually just take an eyeball rest (the 20/20 thing, look at something over 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds - this can prevent a lot of eyestrain with devices, especially small screens) and it often resolves.

Now you're trolling, @dimreepr . Just admit you're having one of your verbal communication glitches and move on.

Another one similar to the Emperor HNC or the Abilene paradox is where someone tells a joke which no one else gets, but someone laughs politely so they also pretend to be amused. This joke, for example.... Professor Xavier is bringing in a new class of mutants and has been listening to people talk about their special gifts all day. He only has one left, a young lady who had just walked in and said she could tell how many pulls of the chain it would take to turn a ceiling fan off. Charles thought this seemed a little useless, but decided to humor the girl. She told him it would take precisely three pulls, so he stood, pulled thrice, and sure enough the fan stopped. He asked why she thought that would be useful on a mission, before realizing what he had done. ....if no one hearing the joke knows who Professor Xavier is, then they won't get the joke. But many people hate to appear uninformed, unhip to pop culture references, so they don't want to admit their puzzlement. Or they just figure it's some kind of clever conceptual joke about getting people to do things, and act as if that's funny. Try telling it in a group of people who aren't into Marvel comics and haven't seen any of the X-men films.