Pretty sure they were being facetious

I’ve heard that, and I’ve also heard that a third of the Greek population had a severe, potentially deadly, allergy to fava beans, called “favism” due to an inability to produce a proper enzyme to digest them.

Which, would warrant keeping a proscriptive wide berth from them.

Pythagoras supposedly thought beans contained part of the human soul. He refused to eat them, and forbade his followers from eating them.

Supposedly, as he was chased out by an angry mob, he was stopped in his tracks by a field of beans to his ultimate peril.

It exposes a structural disadvantage that plagues liberal politics. The hard right can simply point to images and tell a straightforward story, however true or false. Liberal politicians must choose between explaining context, embracing social complexity, and fussing over minute statistics, or allowing the hard right to gain ground by deferring to their narrative.

This is the crux of the issue. Partially the fact that

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

, but also the fact that that reality is complicated and nuanced, while political rhetoric is not.

Conversations inevitably degrade to the level of the dumbest people in the room, and on the internet, that leaves it at about the level of a 12 year old.

Couple that with the fact that narratives are more powerful than data, and it leaves the conservative stance as the most compelling, despite it being the most false and most damaging…

That further reinforces the complexity of intervention strategies, rather than just spraying glyphosate on everything…

If the conifer trees are so prone to fire damage that they require millions of acres of glyphosate to help them recover, maybe it’s time to let more fire-hardy species replenish instead.

The area has historically been populated by fire-hardy species in the past. Why not return it to a more natural cycle, especially now that it’s being exacerbated by increasingly erratic weather systems?

*Edit: I just checked, and…Oh no… the conifers are the fire-hardy species. They’ve been in California surviving fire cycles for 50 million years.

This reads more like a traditional “monkey’s paw” scenario though

Critics say US President Donald Trump’s ideologically driven decision to withdraw the US from the WHO, his administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and reduced funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global public health efforts have adversely affected the response to the current Ebola epidemic, compared with 2014 and 2019 outbreaks.>

There is currently no confirmed CDC director, Food and Drug Administration commissioner, or surgeon general.

Glad to hear all that increased government expenditure is being used to stay as on top of things as I would expect out of this administration.

Link without Paywall

Paywalled

Bananas are shipped green, and in refrigerated shipping containers. They ripen them in warmer containers at Port.

From that moment on, the clock is ticking.

The third act started on a punch to the gut that marred the playful fun the game had built up to that point.

Maybe it was because I had done Iki Island (director’s cut DLC) just before starting the third act, and it was pretty amazing. I think it hit the redemption notes of starting from scratch much better than the third act did.

Even moreso, it was also hard for me to buy the contempt against the ghost for going rogue. You’d think they would appreciate someone taking out entire armies by themselves.

Brilliant! I actually have an old Ricoh laying around that I’ve never used. I think you may be the inspiration I needed to get it out!

How did you remove yourself from the image?

He was definitely a big celebrity in the 90s. It was inconsequential to me because I wasn’t a fan, but he was obviously a big deal for a short period.

That said, I’m completely with you about that edit. Seriously, what the hell was that?

What app did you use for the 360° image?

Not that people shouldn’t be held accountable for their politics, but, as in everything, the issue is more complex than it seems that face value.

I was placed in the region through Teach for America a decade ago, right in the midst of the first Trump election. I initially took the political rhetoric at face value, assuming everyone was parroting the viewpoints of conservative talking heads.

While there is some truth to that, the actuality of any individual’s opinion is more nuanced than that.

The area has been historically marginalized and abused by corporate and political powers of all varieties. Coal severance money was misdirected, and many of the mine owners saw the writing on the wall, taking all available funds and abandoning the area.

As a consequence, the working class was left with few jobs outside of healthcare or education, with a consequent over-reliance on government assistance, leaving the populace with a feeling of hopelessness and abandonment.

The fall from prosperity happened with a similar, and related, flight to large cities. From the viewpoint of the marginalized, it seemed as if liberal policies favored Urban prosperity over rural.

Not that the issue can be whittled down to the urban and rural divide, but the overwhelming sense was that something drastic needed to change, and only one political party even acknowledged that sentiment.

The area has certainly been propagandized to, but most of the opinions are more moderate and practical than the election results would imply.

Like much of the country, it is very easy to find the vocal minority that treats the political scene like a sports match, with an almost religious devotion to “their team”. I just wish there was more condemnation of those people who address it that stupidly.

With it being such a rural area, the community relies on each other, and easily looks past any problematic opinions, in favor of meaningful human connection in action.

I too would like to know. I’m rocking a 2012 Scion with a Toyota engine with 300,000 miles on it…

2009’s “Black Dynamite” (I had to look it up)

The “Wear Sunscreen’ speech by Mary Schmich: “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:

Wear Sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future, or worry, but know that worry is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.”

-Mary Schmich