.Things are getting weird here!
Woman Who Ate ‘Unusually Large’ Amount of Wasabi Developed Broken-Heart Syndrome
A woman got more than a burning mouthful when she mistook a serving of wasabi for avocado — the spicy food appeared to cause her to develop “broken-heart syndrome,” according to a new report of the case.
I don’t know what would be used to dye something red hundreds of years ago either, but if I googled it and got a page of results, I might read it more thoroughly to verify it (and make sure it’s not about a video game) and then, I don’t know, be a little bit curious as to what the weird sounding ingredients are.
And that’d be good on you.
I don’t think not doing that with a minor detail in what sounds like a very big novel is a cardinal sin though.
Thank you. 
Even supposedly educated people (Trinity College Dublin, for God’s sake!)
How many Trinity graduates do you know?
I know two, who are both doctors, and are my wife’s cousins.
The younger one panicked when there was a hailstorm as she didn’t know what that was.
Even supposedly educated people (Trinity College Dublin, for God’s sake!)
How many Trinity graduates do you know?
Lots. It all depends. #NotAllTrinityGraduatesEtc.
I’ve also encountered John Boyne.
Even supposedly educated people (Trinity College Dublin, for God’s sake!)
How many Trinity graduates do you know?
I’ve been in the Trinity library (it was the first place I went to when I visited Dublin). If you had a library like that and you didn’t learn how to research, there’s something wrong.
But it does illustrate how terrible people’s research skills have become since the adoption of the internet. Even supposedly educated people (Trinity College Dublin, for God’s sake!) who ought to know better.
I feel like twenty years ago, most novelists would just have made up some nonsense words for something like this?
But he wasn’t trying to make anything up, he was trying to research the real ingredients needed.
Yeah! Show us the goods!
But he wasn’t trying to make anything up, he was trying to research the real ingredients needed.
Yeah, I was talking less about Boyne at this point than about David’s comment on research skills. I mean, obviously research skills is something that sorely needs work these days, but I doubt that before the internet, the average research skills were any better. Back then, something was either in your encyclopedia at home, or it wasn’t in which case the research mostly ended. Who actually got taught to properly research something, below an academic level of training?
These days, research skills are simply more relevant because there is a world of information always available, and a lot of it is actually false information. So we need to train kids in research more, but because the skill has become more important and not because it has declined.
(I am sure there are, like, studies and stuff on this. If only there was a way we could research them…)
Not weird as such, but unusual and fun enough to post:
You swine! German nudist chases wild boar that stole laptop
A nudist bather who chased a wild boar near a Berlin lake after it stole his laptop was applauded by onlookers after a successful pursuit.
The photographer who captured the drama said the unidentified nudist was happy for her to share the images, which show him in bare-bottomed pursuit of the boar and her two piglets while fellow bathers look on in amusement. […]
The man was sunbathing naked at the Teufelssee in west Berlin, a popular and perfectly legal practice in the German capital as part of what is known as FKK, or Freikörperkultur (free body culture).
Not just in the capital, mind you. FKK is a big thing in Eastern Germany (not so much here in the West).
The wild boar, sightings of which have become increasingly common, had apparently spotted a pizza being eaten by other bathers. It seized a yellow bag containing the man’s laptop, probably believing it to contain food, and was chased by the man into the undergrowth.
“Because the bag contained his laptop, he gave it his all, even though he was in his birthday suit,” explained Landauer.
The boar’s flight was slowed by a cardboard box in its path. The man clapped his hands and hit the ground with the stick, prompting the boar to drop the laptop.
I love how the piglets are taking part in this, too.
You know, in England/Wales I always used to complain about seagulls stealing my food, but I suppose they are preferable to boars stealing your laptops.
Huh. Could’ve sworn Martin’s post was the last one, but apparently I just didn’t read any further.
Ah, no matter. I have a responsibility that those beautiful German nudist bodies are posted here as often as humanly possible!
(For those of you inexperienced with nudist beaches, this is why I hate them. Most Germans’ naked bodies are not precisely aesthetic to the everyday eye, mine included. Nakedness is a beautiful thing, but I do not feel the need to share it with everybody, and I would very much like to not be forced to share in it where other people are concerned.)
It’s a choice to go to a nudist beach though, surely. Unless someone is forcing you, or you happen to live inside an area that is surrounded by nudist beach 360 degrees, like the Vatican within Italy.
(No, I don’t mean that the Vatican is surrounded by nudist beach, although that might make things more interesting.)
It’s a choice to go to a nudist beach though, surely.
You would think so.
(And usually it is.)
But if you have East German relatives, as I did for a while*, you may find out that a perfectly normal part of the beach has suddenly turned into a nudist colony.
—
*Yes, you can have them temporarily. It’s called a divorce.
Australia surfer saves wife by punching shark
A man leapt from his surfboard on to a shark that was attacking his wife, repeatedly punching the animal until it let go, Australian media report.
Chantelle Doyle, 35, was surfing off Shelly Beach at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, when the attack took place.
Her husband punched the shark until it released its grip and then helped Ms Doyle to the shore.
This would get you relationship credit for, oooh, at least half a day or so.
Her husband punched the shark until it released its grip and then helped Ms Doyle to the shore.
If it’s her husband, isn’t that… Mrs Doyle?
Toronto: strip club employee may have exposed about 550 people to Covid-19
Health officials in the Canadian city of Toronto have warned that as many as 550 people may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a downtown strip club after an employee tested positive for the virus.
The potential exposure took place just days after the Brass Rail Tavern, one of the city’s best-known strip clubs, was allowed to re-open. The employee worked four shifts in early August, the city said in a statement, without detailing the capacity in which the employee worked.
Public health officials said they had reached out to the clients that had left their details in the establishment’s contact tracing log, urging them to get tested and self-isolate.
The conversations after getting that call are going to be awkward.
I mainly want to know how European Style dancing differs from home-grown style dancing.
Extra fish.
Toronto: strip club employee may have exposed about 550 people to Covid-19
Health officials in the Canadian city of Toronto have warned that as many as 550 people may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a downtown strip club after an employee tested positive for the virus.
The potential exposure took place just days after the Brass Rail Tavern, one of the city’s best-known strip clubs, was allowed to re-open. The employee worked four shifts in early August, the city said in a statement, without detailing the capacity in which the employee worked.
Public health officials said they had reached out to the clients that had left their details in the establishment’s contact tracing log, urging them to get tested and self-isolate.
The conversations after getting that call are going to be awkward.
Made a joke about Rob Ford without realizing he was dead. Omitted.
I couldn’t make it up. Trump gun enthusiast on Facebook points gun at balls, shoots them off, goes to hospital and becomes a celebrity.
Hero Addresses Most Important Problem Facing the World Today
There are a lot of problems in the country right now, from police shootings of unarmed civilians to a pandemic that has killed over 184,000 Americans. But one man in Lincoln, Nebraska, recently addressed a city council meeting to draw attention to the most important problem facing the world today: boneless chicken wings.
Andrew Christensen, a citizen—nay, a hero—of Lincoln, stood up on Monday to draw attention to the absurdity of boneless chicken wings. Children are being indoctrinated to believe these fowl concoctions are something more than just chicken tenders. And Christensen has had enough with this crime against the English language.
“Lincoln has the opportunity to be a social leader in this country. We have been casually ignoring a problem that has gotten so out of control that our children are throwing around names and words, without understanding their true meaning, and treating things as though they’re normal,” Christensen told the city council.
A man flying a jetpack was reported by pilots above Los Angeles
CNN obtained the audio between air traffic control and American and JetBlue flight crews.
“Tower. American 1997. We just passed a guy on a jetpack,” the first plane called in. “Off the left side maybe 300 — 30 yards or so. About our altitude.”
About 10 minutes later, another plane spotted the man.
“We just saw the guy fly by us on the jetpack,” the crew told the traffic controller.
According to the communications, air traffic control warned a JetBlue flight to “use caution… person on a jetpack reported 300 yards south.”
After the plane acknowledged the instruction, the controller concluded with: “Only in LA.”
Best day ever.
I mainly want to know how European Style dancing differs from home-grown style dancing.
Unfortunately I see the adjective is really attached to ‘dancers’, not ‘dancing’. Could be subtly racist about how they look since I have no idea what a ‘European dance style’ could even begin to mean.
Maybe someone needs to start a Stupid News thread:
One Man’s Plea to His City Council: Rename Boneless Wings
I don’t like spiders, so no pics or videos from me.
‘SLINGSHOT SPIDERS’ ACCELERATE 100X FASTER THAN CHEETAHS
In the Amazon rain forests of Peru, where the tiny slingshot spider launches a web—and itself—to catch unsuspecting flies and mosquitoes.
The spider’s amazing acceleration produces velocities of 4 meters per second (13.1 feet per second) and subjects the spider to forces of approximately 130 Gs, more than 10 times what fighter pilots can withstand without blacking out.
A new kinematic study explains how the amazing “slingshot spider” stores enough energy to produce acceleration of 1,300 meters/second2 (4265 feet/second2), or 100 times the acceleration of a cheetah.
WTF? We do not need these bastards evolving into something bigger.
If they do battle with the Murder Hornets, then fine. Kill each other.
But as it stands I get the feeling Mother Earth wants us off the planet.
If he really was the reincarnation of Jesus, he would have been arrested twenty years ago.
Police confiscate 345,000 recycled condoms in Vietnam
Outcry as Spanish councillor uses face mask to ‘fake speaking English’
Valencia councillor criticised after it emerges speech made in perfect English was dubbed
The need to launder money has rarely been greater.
Embarking on a new career then, Anders?! 
New Yorker suspends Jeffrey Toobin for allegedly masturbating on Zoom call
Magazine says it is investigating matter
Toobin says ‘I thought I had muted the Zoom video’ in apology
Odd how he says “Oh, I thought I’d muted it” as though it would otherwise be fine on a work call.
Two men arrested in India over £70,000 ‘Aladdin’s lamp’ con
Laeek Khan alleges he was duped by pair who even pretended to conjure up a genie
In his complaint, filed last Sunday, Khan said one of the men pretended to be an occultist and made a “jinn”, or supernatural figure, appear from the lamp, local media reported. But when Khan asked if he could touch the genie or take the lamp home, they refused, saying it might cause him harm, the complaint stated.
Eventually they sold the lamp to him, promising it would bring health, wealth and good fortune. Khan stated that he later realised the “genie” was actually just one of the men in disguise.
Idaho Man Banned from Yellowstone National Park for Attempting to Cook Chickens in Hot Spring
Man, I hate it when that happens!
Alien-like photo shows snake eel dangling out of heron’s stomach in midair
His meal didn’t agree with him
Pope likes the bunda:
IMO, given recent Catholic history, he’s lucky it was that, and not school photos from an all-boys school.
Nothing to see here – just a sinkhole on Hastings Ave. in Leslieville #Toronto pic.twitter.com/GvOtKzqDal
— blogTO (@blogTO) November 20, 2020
A Vatican spokesperson told the Guardian: “We can exclude that the ‘like’ came from the Holy See, and it has turned to Instagram for explanations.”
Yeah, I am sure it is more likely that something went wrong at Instagram than that whoever is managing Francis’ social media was looking a pics of scantily-clad models. That doesn’t sound at all like something a man would secretly do during his working hours.
A Vatican spokesperson told the Guardian: “We can exclude that the ‘like’ came from the Holy See, and it has turned to Instagram for explanations.”
Yeah, I am sure it is more likely that something went wrong at Instagram than that whoever is managing Francis’ social media was looking a pics of scantily-clad models. That doesn’t sound at all like something a man would secretly do during his working hours.
It’s a womans Instagram. Not a little boys.
Of course there are abusers in the church but I think they are in every religion and profession that can allow access to kids. The buddhist scene is full of these types of abusers too, and it’s often covered up or denied. Somehow the association between the catholic church and sexual abuse is strong, but abuser scandals in other places get less attention.
Of course there are abusers in the church but I think they are in every religion and profession that can allow access to kids. The buddhist scene is full of these types of abusers too, and it’s often covered up or denied. Somehow the association between the catholic church and sexual abuse is strong, but abuser scandals in other places get less attention.
There’s been scandals among Jews too, it’s just a lot of rabbis spoke against cover-ups in recent years, so there are internal groups who actually go and help with reporting and unveiling cover-ups. There was actually a friend who was upset that another group was against a state law about elimanating the statute of limitations, which he felt was going against the spirit of the rabbis’ strong condemnation of cover-ups, which surprised me, given who he is.
Somehow the association between the catholic church and sexual abuse is strong
GEE, I WONDER WHY!!!
Well, I think in the Western world at least, it’s the one institution where not only is the abuse systemic, but more importantly so is the covering up of the abuse by the organisation. I don’t think we have other examples for that?
The protestant churches seem to be doing better.
No celibacy, less choir boys, female priests.
This is the news we need in 2020. The monolith from 2001.
Now… Someone slap your dick on it! QUICK!
It’s my suspicion the amount of abuse in the Catholic church isn’t significantly higher than in most other comparable places. If there is an opportunity to do it and get away with it, predators will use that.
Well, that’s what I meant by systemic. Catholic church institutions, including schools, give unparalleled opportunities for abuse:
There is an extremely hierarchical system, plus authority figures who do not just hold secular power but by nature of their professino are to be regarded as morally superior. They are also exclusively men – who are required to be celibate and thus without any form of normal sexual outlet! – with groups of minors in their charge. Now, if you have that kind of system, you need to make sure that there are checks and controls and procedures when it comes to how to deal with accusations of abuse, and the Church’s strategy has been denying the crimes and protecting the abusers to protect their own reputation for a very long time. (It’s changing, but slowly.) They are also in a pretty unique position when it comes to dealing with law enforcement in the context of accusations against members of their institution.
Anders pointed out some of the differences in at least European protestant faiths. Many institutions like boarding schools have clear policies when it comes to how to deal with abuse. And while I am sure that there are many examples of institutions where things go just as badly, I don’t think there is a singular hierarchical, cohesive global institution that has as much power and impact as the Catholic Church that has these systemic faults.
This is the news we need in 2020. The monolith from 2001.
Now… Someone slap your dick on it! QUICK!
My God, it’s full of stars
There is an extremely hierarchical system, plus authority figures who do not just hold secular power but by nature of their professino are to be regarded as morally superior. They are also exclusively men – who are required to be celibate and thus without any form of normal sexual outlet! – with groups of minors in their charge. Now, if you have that kind of system, you need to make sure that there are checks and controls and procedures when it comes to how to deal with accusations of abuse, and the Church’s strategy has been denying the crimes and protecting the abusers to protect their own reputation for a very long time. (It’s changing, but slowly.) They are also in a pretty unique position when it comes to dealing with law enforcement in the context of accusations against members of their institution.
I agree with all that, obviously I am not going to defend anything the Vatican leadership did. They’re a bunch of criminals and weirdos.
I feel sad for catholic believers though. It must be tough for them that many people’s first association with their belief is the child abuse. (of course their suffering doesn’t compare to the suffering of the abuse victims)
Yeah, it has to be said we’re missing more voices defending the Catholics (like Jim used to do). And honestly there are large regions of Germany still devoutly Catholic – it’s inherent to the way of life there – and the Curch contributes a lot to public life here.
The Catholic Church is probably the oldest institution with an unbroken history in the world, which is kind of its problem here – reform isn’t easy when you’re carrying two thousand years of tradition around with you.
I think the Netherlands is often seen as a protestant country but we have a lot of Catholics. About 40 % of the people have a Catholic heritage although many of those have sort of drifted away from the church in the last decades, but they’re the largest religious group now, according to wikipedia 22 % in the Netherlands identify as Catholic and 15 % identify as protestant (53 % are non-religious, 5 % are Muslims and the remaining 5 % are smaller religions, like Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist.) Catholics are mostly in the South of the country, although there are Catholic communities all over the country. Amsterdam always had a lot of Catholics for instance.
It’s fascinating how much difference there is within the church. The Catholics here are mostly very liberal. I think more than 90 % support gay marriage for instance.
In Catholic school we were never taught about the turmoil between the Roman Catholics, the Calvinists, and the Lutherans that tore Europe apart in the 17th century. We barely learned about the Protestant schism; it’s almost as if the priests and nuns that taught us didn’t want us to consider the possibility of other schools of religious thought. Almost.
identify a Catholic in a way Protestants that no longer worship don’t really.
I think it’s probably similar here. Protestants here are generally more strict in their teaching (although there are also very liberal protestants) but when they lose the faith they lose the whole protestant identity whereas catholicism remains as a kind of cultural identity. I think it’s also a kind of regional pride here, the most catholic provinces are the two southern provinces of Noord Brabant and Limburg, and for them it’s a kind of cultural belonging, the whole catholic tradition, not so much the beliefs but the holidays, the art, the local history etc
Convert all churches to mental hospitals. No need to persecute christians, just give them the medication and the help they need. We can do this.
Well, mental hospitals are obviously a good thing and all, but what I really like in the UK is how many churches have been turned into pubs. There’s a pretty cool one in Dublin, too, approprately called The Church.
I sat at that bar with our man Wayne T over a decade ago.
Also, more seriously, I may have said this before: I always lament the fading away of the sense of community that churches give to a community. If you don’t go to church, there is no place to meet the people in your neighbourhood or town where everybody will come together once a week.
I would really like to see something to fill that gap, public community centers where once a week somebody will give a speech on current issues and afterwards there’s cake and stuff. It’s one of those things that really should be a public service.
Also, more seriously, I may have said this before: I always lament the fading away of the sense of community that churches give to a community. If you don’t go to church, there is no place to meet the people in your neighbourhood or town where everybody will come together once a week.
I would really like to see something to fill that gap, public community centers where once a week somebody will give a speech on current issues and afterwards there’s cake and stuff. It’s one of those things that really should be a public service.
I agree. I’ve said this before but despite not being at all religious, we have found our local church to be a really valuable community hub for us, especially some years ago when the kids were very young (as they ran lots of daytime events for young parents and toddlers etc).
We never pretended to be religious and they never made us feel unwelcome despite being non-believers – it was a very positive community-oriented place that did a lot of good for the local area.
Currently, there isn’t really anything secular to replace that.
Convert all churches to mental hospitals. No need to persecute christians, just give them the medication and the help they need. We can do this.
So what distinguishes healthy religious beliefs – and perhaps beliefs in conspiracy theories – from delusions may be partly a matter of whether or not the belief strengthens community bonds. If sustaining a belief impairs your daily functioning and disrupts your social relationships, then your belief is more likely to count as a delusion.
Nevertheless, distinctions between healthy and pathological religious beliefs are unlikely to be sharp. Instead, the emerging picture is of continuity between religious cognition and cognition associated with mental disorders.
So the answer is, kinda yes?
I agree. I’ve said this before but despite not being at all religious, we have found our local church to be a really valuable community hub for us, especially some years ago when the kids were very young (as they ran lots of daytime events for young parents and toddlers etc).
It’s an interesting one, I remember Bill Maher as a very strident atheist having a guest on his show that went into the value to communities of the church with a lot of fact and figures on how that increased happiness and cohesion. He had to very reluctantly agree he had a point.
If we go back a few centuries the church used to provide all the education and healthcare and those have been adequately replaced by the state now but the wider community solidarity has proven a lot more elusive.
This is getting to close to being the “mind expansion thread”. However on the other hand I wouldn’t call those utterances by Dawkins and Pinker mind expanding, more narrowing.
Well, for one thing, while Dawkins is a controversial figure (and Pinker too, though usually for different reasons), none of what they’re saying is particularly new; most of it goes back to the 19th century and Feuerbach.
We’re not doing the article Todd posted justic in reducing it to that, though; it only uses Dawkin’s and Pinker’s statements as jumping-off points and actually examines a fairly interesting question:
Dawkins, for his part, approvingly quoted the writer Robert M Pirsig’s observation that “when one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion”.
Examining that by actually looking at delusions, as the article does, is actually somewhat interesting:
The APA’s definition of delusion excludes beliefs that are widely accepted. This drives a seemingly arbitrary wedge between isolated cases of obviously pathological belief and cases where beliefs with the same content have cultural support.
Consider the case of an Australian man who believed his penis had been stolen and replaced with someone else’s. The man had cut his penis and poured boiling water on it, and was surprised that these acts were painful. This is a clear case of delusion, as the belief is false, and this kind of belief is virtually unheard of in Australia.
But beliefs in genital theft do have some cultural acceptance in other parts of the world. Indeed, epidemics of such beliefs – so-called “penis panics” – have been documented in various countries. Should a belief cease to be a delusion once widely adopted? That’s what the APA’s definition of delusion seems to imply.
And this focus on shared belief appears to have other surprising implications. For example, while the APA’s definition of delusion may exclude followers of popular religions, the founders of those same religions may not get a pass until they attract a community of followers, at which point the subculture exemption comes into effect.
The APA definition mentioned here is:
n. an often highly personal idea or belief system, not endorsed by one’s culture or subculture, that is maintained with conviction in spite of irrationality or evidence to the contrary.
It is interesting that the actually have to make the distinction between personal and cultural because without that, you’d presumably have to include religion in delusions. Note, however, that this goes for any idea or belief system; I am sure we can come up with a lot more that aren’t religious in nature.
This bit is interesting, too:
In addition, the APA’s emphasis on cultural acceptance is consistent with a growing awareness of the social function of beliefs. Through our beliefs we do not just model the world around us – we mould it to our purposes. Our beliefs mark us out as members of certain social groups, helping us to secure trust and cooperation.
Indeed, steadfast endorsement of some clearly false propositions – such as the claim that the crowd which attended the 2017 presidential inauguration of Donald Trump was the largest in US history – may be equivalent to ritual body piercing or firewalking: a signal of group commitment that is credible to others precisely because it is hard to sustain.
And this:
So what distinguishes healthy religious beliefs – and perhaps beliefs in conspiracy theories – from delusions may be partly a matter of whether or not the belief strengthens community bonds. If sustaining a belief impairs your daily functioning and disrupts your social relationships, then your belief is more likely to count as a delusion.
Delusion is a term that describes something pathological, and as usual that means it has to impair your life. People hold a lot of irrational beliefs; if you hold a personal belief that doesn’t impact your life in any way, we wouldn’t call that delusional. It’d be unusual to seriously hold a religious belief that nobody else shares, but we probably wouldn’t give it much thought unless you start sacrificing people. But it remains true that the quality of irrationality isn’t what makes the difference; any religion is a system that goes against rational observation. The difference is made by whether the religion has a positive effect on people and on society. (Of course especially the latter part is something one can argue about.)
Let’s close this with Patton Oswald making an important pragmatic point about religion:
(Man, when we’re talking about this kind of stuff, I always wish Jonny was here!)
And something more light-hearted!
The birth of Covid Casual: Lockdown has changed people’s habits for good as a quarter of Britons admit they no longer shower daily or bother using deodorant and 61 percent of workers swap their suits for pyjamas
Delusion is a term that describes something pathological, and as usual that means it has to impair your life.
That is interesting. But what if my personal beliefs is working to help me and my life while also impairing someone elses life? What if your religion, that brings you all kinds of social benefits, also persecute gay people, or cover up pedophile rings withing their clergy, or behead adulterers? Aren’t those ideas always inherently delusional by default, then?
I don’t have much experience of religious practices of any religion outside of the abrahamic religions but it’s pretty clear to me that those dogmatic imaginary friend-regimes are 100% delusional. That doesn’t mean that I can’t see the some of the psychological, social or cultural benefits that can be reaped from being part of a congregation. I mean, this very community is based on our love for imaginary people and that’s cool, right?
Let me turn this around.
When I was heavy into drugs I used to believe (and I’m not kidding) that I was Adolf Hitler in a previous life. We don’t need to get into why, because those were DELUSIONS from my perspective today. But what did this give me? It got me out of bed. It made me laugh when shit was tough. I drew some strength from it, and it had zero negative impact on my life. It just made it more interesting.
Was that not a delusion just because it benefited me?
