I think it’s one of the flaws with representative democracy. When faced with a choice between what’s good for the country/state vs. what’s popular (or just good for their district), what should an elected official pick? If they go with the former, they will eventually be replaced by someone who votes the other way, and we’ll end up with a government of elected officials who only vote selfishly (to get reelected by supporting public opinion, I mean).

Maybe proportional voting would help with legislatures to avoid that, but I don’t see a great fix for executives. And proportional voting can also have its own flaws by making parties more influential. The best is trying to elect people who can convince the public/their constituents that what’s good for the country (or state) is also good for the people, and change public opinion on the topic. Obama (preceded by VP Biden) coming out in favor of gay marriage worked pretty well on that front. So I guess we’re just back to trying to elect the best people, or at least the most influential. But that’s also why Trump has been successful politically and that sucks, so I don’t know.

Yes, it’s true. This man has no dick.

No, no, it was originally “Taking God’s name in vein,” as saying the name of God out loud would allow Him into your blood. If you say the name of God, you allow him to inhabit your blood, gain your power, and become even more mighty. The ancient Hebrews feared God gaining too much power, as He would be able to destroy the world. Then Christians figured out that if they took Communion and instead drank the blood of Christ, they could reverse the Hebrew God’s power and slowly increase their own until they could ascend to the heavens and do battle with the Almighty, empowered by His blood in their veins, rather than weakened by taking His name in vein. In this seventeen-part essay, I will describe how we can defeat God by

Handmade puzzles, i.e., puzzles crafted intentionally by a real person almost never require guessing. However, a lot of “extreme” difficulty puzzles (or similar difficulty terms) in apps, newspapers, puzzle books, etc. are not handmade by a real person, but computer generated. There’s probably a logic chain that’s like 15 steps long that humans couldn’t reasonably follow, but a guess is likely faster and more enjoyable.

Someone else recommended Cracking the Cryptic on YouTube, which is a great source - the daily puzzles are nice because you can follow along in the video if you’re stuck, but they also have lots of apps with Sudokus that never require guessing. Another good source is Logic Masters Germany, which has lots of handmade Sudoku and other puzzles: https://logic-masters.de/

Yeah, hopefully there was a control done with just water (no tea) at the same temperature also passed through the second filter. I can’t seem to get the whole paper without a subscription (or school/work/library account). Anyone have access and can confirm the details?

The company also said it would “accept Twitter.com as compensation">

Lol

I feel like important context is that they were kids of the manager. That changes this from a bad corporate governance and exploitation of labor situation to something else: a bad parenting/child abuse, bad corporate governance and exploitation of labor situation.

Space is hard. You’re strapping something inside a big tube with basically directed explosives at the bottom, hoping it survives the trip, then subjecting it to constant radiation, huge temperature swings, and other brutal environmental factors like micrometeoroids. Just because we’ve been sending satellites and people up to space for nearly 70 years doesn’t mean it’s gotten easier; we’re just better at knowing what to expect so we can test for it. Failures in rockets or satellites or even manned spacecraft are going to happen as much as we work to prevent them.

A 2021 survey of 44 gender nonconforming people incarcerated in New York state prisons found that three-quarters had experienced some form of sexual assault or inappropriate touching by corrections officers. Over a quarter reported being forced by an officer to perform oral sex.>

What the fuck? I wondered what the number is for cis people. Best I could find was a report from 2020 that said the total rate of sexual misconduct/harassment by staff was 12.3 per 1000 (1.23%). Versus, with a low sample size, 75% in the article’s survey. What. The. Fuck.

Anyone else hate that the Gadsden flag has been appropriated by ultra-libertarian jingoists? It’s an awesome-looking flag with a cool history and symbolism, but I feel like I couldn’t fly it without looking like a twat.