TheVat

Doesn't seem weird to me. I find people chewing gum distasteful. I don't think it's wrong or that they shouldn't enjoy. That something may not appeal to my own aesthetics is not a judgment on its moral legitimacy. I think that's where many straight males are, re gay sex. You can find some activity distasteful (golden showers, anyone?) without minding in the least that others enjoy it.

Indeed. Or Sex with Ducks.

Also like some of their raunchier songs, which I will warn may be NSFW.

There will be a Quiz, no?

Too many whiskeys may cause you to miss keys.

The Friday and Saturday objects were around 40,000 ft, an altitude that gets a lot of monitoring due to being in commercial airspace. And heightens risk of an accident that would potentially spark war. I would imagine any intelligence service that deserves the name would terminate that part of the experiment. Female geese are so self-serving.

Delicious! Adding pb to oats is one of my standard foods from youth and student days. The natural kind (no palm oil or other hydrogenated fats) you have to stir, but it's better for you.

Single food thinking is problematic for a healthy diet. Foods operate synergistically. Arterial plaque formation is far more affected by overall intake of soluble fiber, antiinflammatory foods (e.g. omega3 rich oils, berries, avocado, green tea, oranges, almonds, walnuts, olive oil, etc), and moderation on fried foods and animal-based saturated fats (which raise those LDLs @exchemist mentioned). Eat well, in this way, and a couple eggs won't matter. How about for breakfast: an egg, oatmeal with berries and walnuts, and an orange? And go easy on whole milk, or substitute a plant milk.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/asia/japan-zoo-gibbon-pregnancy-mystery-intl-hnk/index.html Japanese zookeepers believe they have solved the mystery of how a gibbon became pregnant despite living alone in her cage. Momo, a 12-year-old white-handed gibbon, shocked her keepers at the Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden in Nagasaki in February 2021 when she gave birth despite having no known male companionship. Now two years later, following a DNA test on her baby, the zoo has worked out who the father is – and even has a theory about how the gibbons mated....

The question of genetic predispositions towards personality traits, sociopathy, etc is another thread, right? Most people are not antisocial, and will assume duties of care presented as that society's ethos. Some have an "overachiever" personality trait and may extend their active care beyond what's required, other are "slackers," and will see if they can get away with some neglect (often with justifications along the lines of "I'm just one person, not much I can do" or "that's government's job.") To me, a classic contrast in the US attends the nuisance task of recycling. Some, if their city only has a few centers with dumpsters to take your recyclables to, will be happy to sort their stuff, pack it into the car, and haul it there. They feel good, doing something good for the larger community and environment. Others chuck everything in regular trash, can't be bothered, and say "the city needs to give us all curbside bins, period!" (often the same people who say, "clean air, pfft! I'll get a greener car when Big Auto makes one in my price range and my precise specs. I'll get a bike when they've got their own special pathways and the boss installs showers at work and allows casual dress and blah blah blah...") Some people do seem to have a larger sense of collective action and benefit than others. And this also relates to how much one buys into the way capitalism peddles "convenience" as a commodity. Americans are subjected to pernicious levels of this, as if having everything be as easy as possible were some ultimate virtue.

I have read some speculation that the greater proximity to the surface allows the antenna array to pick up weaker signals - especially short-distance line-of-sight communications that are used by the military. Even if they can't crack the encryption, just knowing the location and duration of the squirts, and their timing, can reveal a lot. (from unidentified Pentagon source that spoke to CNN): The balloon's spyware payload, the size of a regional jetliner, had "multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geo-locating communications." There is also this, from David DeRoches, a professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. -- He told Al Jazeera the Chinese balloon shot down by the US could also have been used to “gather information on what kind of signals [the US is] using to track it, so it could possibly identify and classify radar hits … which could be of interest if the Chinese wanted to actually launch an attack.” Stuff you can't get from a Pine Gap + satellites type setup, IOW. And also, obviously, the relatively slow speed of a balloon v LEO satellite, and greater proximity will also yield clearer images of ground objects of interest. (and geosynchronous satellites are at an even greater distance, and so their imaging can be pretty foggy)

Not sure how you would bridge the gap between some people on the web crafting legislation and inducing any politicians (i.e. legislators) to use that as a model for actual bill proposals. We don't really have direct democracy here in the USA, and politicians tend to listen to big money donors and lobbyists because they know where their bread is buttered in our rather plutocratic system. You might get farther with, instead, promoting public awareness and GOTV (Get Out The Vote) on particular issues. For example, reproductive rights people organized pretty well and helped stymie the "Red Wave" that was originally predicted to flip over forty seats in the US House of Representatives, and several seats in the Senate. Most people don't think about legislation so much as they do "hot button" issues that they are emotionally engaged with.

I find it interesting that the balloon was spotted right away on its approach - over the Bering Sea, in fact. Was this balloon and payload larger than the previous ones, making it easier to spot, or did we just happen to get lucky this time and be looking in the right place? I don't know if all the answers are going to be declassified on this. I wonder if this was a case of the Chinese SIGINT people getting cocky, "hey, we've floated a half dozen of these over, without fuss, wooohooo!..." It could be lack of competent analysis of political ramifications, but that's true of a lot of what nations do even when there is good delegation of decision-making and chain-of-command. When humans gets cocky and besotted with cool tech, judgment often goes out the window.

You misunderstood me. I am aware Europe has such racism, and the blacks-are-subhuman thing has many ugly forms. I was aware he intended nothing along those lines, and I was rather urging awareness that in places like the US his original subtitle would, due to our notably fraught history of race relations, offend some people. (and, unfortunately, derail the innocent joke he was making) I would love to live in an America where things have resolved themselves to where such jokes bounce off harmlessly. That would be wonderful. The America I love is one that supports human rights everywhere, not just select spots. I feel like our support of Jewish people would be more credible if it were matched by our support of other displaced people. Both Britain, back in the day, and the US, have shown callous disregard of Palestinian Arabs, and it is only ideology that can warp someone's perception to where they think that's okay. I live in a Native American area of my country, and have witnessed up close the effects of theft, brutality, and displacement, (and blaming the victims when they kick back) so I am aware of the "nuances," especially the ones that Zionists seem to conveniently ignore. Could we split these posts off for a separate thread?

I appreciated @John Cuthber 's gracious response and expression of regret for the unintended implications. I myself have often made the joke that we humans are "apes with cellphones." The video itself, without interpretive remarks, is not racist. Just absurd. I laughed when I first saw it a couple years ago. (and clearly fake, for the reasons already mentioned....plus who would keep holding the camera in that situation?)

You should apologize. Instead of a condescending nonapology which ducks the issue and focuses on an issue that no one has with your post. Yes, we are hominins, related closely to the great apes, yata yata yata. Your post, however, is a gross racist slur, in many areas of the world. However unintended. In my country, the Blacks = apes comparison has been the basis for massive brutality, suffering and death. And the "science" of the comparison has not been of much comfort to those on the receiving end, I can assure you.

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/the-disturbing-monkey-business-of-us-blackwhite-race-relations In the United States, the comparison of black people to apes or monkeys, is a horrible slur, one with a long and sad history. This is just one link I found on a quick Google search. Is this really not known in your corner of the globe?

Wow. Please please read your reply over in Jokes, explaining this delicate matter. This is embarrassing.

See post prior to yours. Hope it's helpful in your future interactions here, and especially with Americans. The DV is not from me. Again, must be something less understandable to folks in UK.

They seem to overlap. Apropos of this chat I just saw this posted over in Jokes... I suspect this was an innocent mistake, but I did point out the problem, especially for an American, with John's quip. And the DV he won is one I won't "neutralize." You Brits need to be aware, if you aren't already, of how terrible that slur sounds to a Yank. And profoundly UNfunny.

And here we were just discussing, over in political humor, what lines can be crossed in joking. I'm pretty sure you didn't intend the mindbendingly racist aspect of referring to black people as apes. In the United States, this particular slur has a long and terrible history, and a person of color visiting this thread (or anyone, really) might well decide this forum is not worth their time. I won't DV you, but respectfully request you be aware of why this post is offensive.

I especially liked this bit from Shadow's humorous list.... AN AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

Whoa. That is pretty dark. 7000+ people dying hideous crushing deaths doesn't seem to me like it's ever going to be great material for jokes. Of course, Mel Brooks and other brilliant comic writers/performers have made jokes about the Holocaust, so I guess there's something to be said for being able to laugh at horrific events. I would guess there's a fine line there to tread, where people want to laugh at something terrible so they aren't afraid of it or traumatized about it, where there's some kind of healthy emotional release from the awfulness, but at the same time not be callous and cruel as regards the victims of terrible events. I think we have to accept that treading the line will inevitably involve transgressions that are too far. The question may be one of intent. Did the joke makers just get carried away and thoughtless, or was there a real malign aspect? There's a saying in US standup comedy: "Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

While I agree that there are some reasonable bounds on jokes - like cruelty and racist attacks - I didn't really see attacking Israeli West Bank policies of razing farms and groves and grabbing land as in such a taboo category. Mac wasn't being anti-Semitic, just anti-RW regime. If you read Shadow's 2009 joke, Mac's makes way more sense in that context. (it's on page one)

AFAICT, the joke Mr Mack was trying for was playing off a 2009 post which also began with "you have two cows." Which I didn't backtrack to 2009 and read, but presume was some sort of political commentary on economic ideologies. Now y'all got me curious...