CharonY

See, that is why I always found it funny if folks proclaim things like that racism, anti-semitism and sexism is functionally over and that the pendulum has swung too far. Really what happened is that the only swing we had is more towards a more careful approach to proclaiming your ignorance and intolerance. But that movement was enough to make it swing all the way back. The main difference is that on top, ignorance is also on full display (and ignorance is the PC word here for the stuff people openly proclaim). And it does seem that one political side is benefiting more from ignorance than the other. So much so, that fascism is getting acceptable again, and not only in the USA, for that matter.

Yep. Plenty of diseases with a genetic basis manifest later in life and might have little or no effect during development. There are many potential reasons, some include being inactive until later in life, requirement of some interactions (either internally or with the environment) to manifest the disorder, functions that can inhibit the disorder during development but not later in life, etc. One might think that organisms are extremely purpose-built and small changes can cause disorder or malfunction. In reality what is considered "normal" is more of a weird mess where a lot of variation exists that under certain conditions works perfectly fine but may break down under others. It is much less deterministic what works and what doesn't as one might imagine.

Yes that's it. Forgot how it was called for a second. There is of course also the tendency of traditional media to "sanewash" what is going on, just so that it fits traditional sensibilities. But as I said, I think we are somewhere else entirely already.

There is also an interesting trend regarding minorities and how grievances can be used to balance each other out. Historically, minorities were sensitive to threats against them and such rhetoric is generally considered toxic for that voting block. However, the GOP has made inroads with e.g. Hispanic men. I don't think there is a clear consensus as to why, but some argue that there is an educational gender divide. Hispanic women are more likely to pursue higher education and Hispanic men are less likely to absorb traditional media, instead relying on their social network. Trump is popular in the working class, and some studies suggest that it is the projection of a (weird) form of masculinity, which is laced with more than a bit of misogyny. On the other hand, IIRC, the gender gap is narrower than in other voting blocs.

One can only hope. Though after Charlottesville and Jan 6. I am not sure whether I would get my hopes up. That feels like the most tangible element. Maybe there is some lingering recency effect. It is just hard for me to imagine that after all these years this is will suddenly penetrate folks' skulls. The shock effect is long gone. That being said, silly as it may seem, it appears that policy plays at best a minor role and we are headed into ideology-driven politics. Here, issues such as racism, misogyny, and views masculinity (pro and contra) may be key elements determining voting blocks more than ever before.

Considering that they were able to explain away a coup attempt (which was universally condemned when everyone was afraid for their lives), I don't think that this bar is any higher, to be honest. Maybe I am too cynical, but I don't think we can rely on certain standards anymore.

I would say he was a symptom of prevalent racism, and folks being afraid that the Overton window has shifted so far that being PC now applied to subtle and systemic racism as well (which we can see in the rejection of CRT), which is a bridge too far. Those were already present in 2016 with his rapists comments. It wasn't subtle then, either. It just has become more blunt, but why should it make a difference once we are so far down the hole?

Yeah, it did definitely amplify that. But I caution against a narrative that only Reps are vulnerable against misinformation. They are just at a higher rate. The baseline is still pretty sad and the shock of a the pandemic did little to change that.

Unfortunately that is nothing new as such. IIRC the estimated annual deaths from influenza were in the order from 20-50k. Yet vaccination rates have remained abysmal throughout. At the time I though that the sudden and massive impact of COVID-19 would shake the status quo. Unfortunately, the result was a further decline in vaccination uptake. And it is not only an US issue. Canada had lower vaccination rates to begin with and is trending the same. Working in public health seems to be as much fun as working on global warming, I guess.

That is what I am getting at. OP makes the claim that "printing money" is the main cause of current inflation and that "increasing taxes" are the only mechanism to reduce them. While both are have pro an counter inflationary effects (though only personal income taxes, from what I remember ), they are far from being the only mechanisms. And they specifically do not seem to play a role now, (alluding to news outlets suggests current events).

I hope not, because that would be a silly claim.

! Moderator Note Considering that the discussions has run its course, the topic is locked.

Not universally so. As already mentioned, some animals seek out carrion. Some insects breed there, but there are also carrion eaters (crows, vultures, many predators). Perhaps somewhat interestingly, the characteristic smell of cadavers is caused by bacteria (obviously), and much of the foul odour is caused by diamines, such as cadaverine and putrescine.

The smell is a mixture of small volatile molecules and are not very (or at all) toxic. The bacteria are sitting in and on corpses (and its liquids) and some of them might be pathogenic, but they do not swirl i the air with the volatile compounds. At least not without agitation. However, corpses do release liquids which can contain bloodborne and especially GI bacteria/viruses and if the corpse is bloated they can release gases where some may be around (probably not a lot in most cases, though). Fungi can also grow on corpses, potentially releasing spores (which again needs to be agitated to get into the air and lungs) but generally speaking if you do not get corpse juice on you, (and lick it) one should be fine.

Also it is funny to assume that a conservative group is supposedly going to do anything to change the status quo. Commitment to traditionalism is kind of a defining element.

I think it is fair to say that this forum is somewhat biased against convicted felons, has a dislike of rapists and is not particular fond of folks who have proclaimed plans to undermine democracy to establish an autocratic rule. Some folks are just biased that way.

I think you are on the wrong forum, then.

You are not arguing from a valid scientific perspective, then. There are many unique brains in the animal world, including larger and more complex in certain areas. You start from the assumption that humans must be unique and then build your classification around that.

This is a prime example of making up definitions. Yours is that you think humans are unique and therefore are a different category. All other animals are less (less what?). The scientific definition is based on relationship and has a fairly stringent basis that is not randomly pulled out of someone's posterior. Another hint: if you look broadly, all animals are to some degree unique. The idea that humans are entirely separate is entirely driven by ideology and religion.

And here again we have left any resemblance of science.

Yes, but the (rough) studies looking at folks with regular church attendance did not really see that (but in some studies the effects i found). My reading is that it might have an effect, but the effect size is small and there are many confounders who can erase any effects.

Yes absolutely, there is just a general finding of association, and the speculation of potential protective elements. I am obviously not an expert on this subject, but the few studies I came across didn't delve much into details or spent much effort into identifying confounding factors (the only one I came across was alcohol and substance use). Also, one could speculate that quite a few mechanisms available to struggling folks, are based on religious organizations (more so in the past). One argument made especially in earlier studies suggested that the community afforded by being member of a parish to play a factor, but some studies, including the linked one, found no such correlation.

There is some evidence that religiosity is associated with lower suicide risk, as most religions forbid suicide. The protective factor differed between religions, and I believe the strongest effect was found in Muslims. However, this is not the correct conclusion: The article suggest that in the study cohort, religiosity was associated with lower suicide rates, which is not equivalent to atheists in general conducting at a higher rate. Longitudinal studies who look at large cohort, track suicide rates and then investigate the religious affiliation found contrasting results, and one of the largest ones that I know of (9 yr- over 1 mio folks) found no difference between religious and non-religious groups (https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.128694) There are a few reasons why adherence to religions can have certain protective factors. For example, practicing Muslims do not consume alcohol, which can exacerbate mental health episodes. This would be the same for non-drinking atheists, of course. Other effects that are difficult to disentangle are age, but also overall religiosity of the population (or cohort), as religions can have very different manifestations in difference societies (e.g. in theocracies).

Exactly. Also, how would you ensure that the random person is in fact providing vaccines and not something else entirely? The process of injecting is not even the biggest issue here.

There is a report on pollsters that you can read here. While it does not cover all the details, they refer to sources where the information might be included (or not). https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/PM_2023.04.19_Polling-Landscape_FINAL.pdf