DireWolfSpirit Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 A handful of interesting environmental headlines this week- Two Tasmanian Devil births on the Aussie mainland for the first time in over a century. I remember hearing they were extinct when I was a youngster. Also owner activists have placed climate change advocates on Exxon's board. Also an intriguing story about how chimps will change their accents when under duress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 What....A.....Beautiful.....Mind!! https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/us/two-year-old-is-youngest-american-mensa-member-trnd/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 13 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said: What....A.....Beautiful.....Mind!! https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/us/two-year-old-is-youngest-american-mensa-member-trnd/index.html These types of stories tend to make me feel sad. I have to wonder how much the parents are pushing and manipulating the child for their own reasons. I suspect that she was primed and coached and assisted to the IQ score claimed. If she really does have the IQ the parents claim, then parading her this way just about guarantees her a miserable childhood. I doubt that an accurate measure can be made of a 2 year old child's IQ, and having them join Mensa is just meaningless. Joining Mensa is not an accomplishment or even much of a goal as Mensa is just a social club. It is about as meaningful as joining an Elvis fan club. There are zero special privileges that one gains by being a member. And yes I was a member of Mensa Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 I feel a little apprehension over whether the child is happy but I just didn't feel there's enough evidence one way or the other to say for certain. I can only hope for the best for her. There's obviously something unique with her abilities at such a young age, hopefully it transcends into a good experience in whatever path forward she lands on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 So I know I'm late to the party on this, but I just found out there's a new name for my age group, having been born in 1985 - "geriatric millennial:" The response to this is pretty funny, but I've always found the fascination with my age group - particularly giving it a name - well, fascinating. I remember way back when it was called "the Oregon trail generation." Then Gen Y. I even remember "xennial." This one seems to emphasize that people my age finally need to accept that they're getting old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 I recently heard that term too and it seems odd to say the least. Is the '85 dividing line based on if you played Oregon Trail or the second edition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Further to my story about the Colorado murderer being caught 40 years later because of genetic testing, two states have now passed laws forbidding the searching of genetic tests to find criminals. Maryland and Montana have said it’s a privacy issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhaenysBee Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Where are normal flies gone? When I was a kid, we used to have regular old 5-7mm flies that you could sometimes hear buzzing around but mostly noticed them when they landed on/around you. Now they seem to be gone and every time I open a damn window I get these 1.5-2cm sized monster flies that are loud and giant and disgusting. Yuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Typical scene in the life of a German history teacher: Looking through some sources for my lessons I stumble across a reference to the Imperial German anthem used between 1871 and 1918. Obviously there was one, but for some reason the thought never occurred to me. So curious I looked it up and listened to it on Youtube. Yeah, makes sense that we don't use it anymore since the lyrics are basically "Die for your Emperor!" over and over again. I was slightly taken aback though that it was four times the length of the current day anthem. That seemed a bit jarring, so I looked it up as well and... Ah right! Of course, that's why! Yeah, I'm a forgetful idiot. XD Though I am more amused why the second verse was gotten rid of alongside the first. What's the issue with starting your anthem with what is essentially just a ribald drinking song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Toth said: What's the issue with starting your anthem with what is essentially just a ribald drinking song? I don't see one. It is similar to how our anthem is too. I mean, it is not ribald, but it is basically a song to toast to friends with wine. But we only use the 7th verse, which doesn't include any reference to wine or drinking and is instead a hippy "let's just all be friends and peaceful neighbours". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Buckwheat said: I don't see one. It is similar to how our anthem is too. I mean, it is not ribald, but it is basically a song to toast to friends with wine. But we only use the 7th verse, which doesn't include any reference to wine or drinking and is instead a hippy "let's just all be friends and peaceful neighbours". I guess ribald was a strong choice of words, but yes it does sound exactly like it is in our case with it being a song for toasting and only one verse being used. In our case the left out second verse goes: German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song, Shall retain in the world Their old beautiful chime And inspire us to noble deeds During all of our life. German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song! German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song! I was totally aware that we cut a large chunk away, but only knew of the first verse. Mentioning borders from 1841 turned out to not have been the most foresighted idea, so using the first verse makes you look like some kind of revisionist. Not to mention that its opening line "Germany, Germany above all" has been charged thanks to its use by all kinds of right-wing parties, obviously including the Nazis. Even though it was in its origin meant to put the idea of Germany above the interests of the German states, not to put Germany above other countries. It makes sense once you realize the song was made before a Germany even existed and contains a demand for a unified German country to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 If I'm not supposed to eat this triple action antibiotic ointment then maybe it shouldn't smell like brown sugar caramelized in butter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 How much would you need to be paid to attempt this?: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said: How much would you need to be paid to attempt this?: federal minimum wage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 36 minutes ago, larrytheimp said: federal minimum wage You're a madman. Never change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 On a sad note, the 19-year old daughter of author Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, Liar’s Poker etc) and Tabitha Soren, was killed together with her boyfriend when their Ford Fusion hit a Freightliner truck head-on in Nevada. Police are investigating the crash - it sounds like the truck was in it’s lane and their car directly crashed into it. How sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 That's sad. Also, the same guy wrote Moneyball, The Blindside and The Big Short? Never realized that, those were 3 pretty good flicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 57 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said: That's sad. Also, the same guy wrote Moneyball, The Blindside and The Big Short? Never realized that, those were 3 pretty good flicks. Michael Lewis has a long list of great books. His first was Liar’s Poker, when he worked at Salomon Brothers, a huge, aggressive brokerage firm 30 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Make. The. Alarm. Ringing. Stop. Seriously this alarm has been going off for more than 2 hours at this point. Why has no-one shut it off yet?! I don't even know if its a car alarm or a shop, pub, restaurant, a flat, a fire alarm. Just someone make it stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 6 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: Make. The. Alarm. Ringing. Stop. Seriously this alarm has been going off for more than 2 hours at this point. Why has no-one shut it off yet?! I don't even know if its a car alarm or a shop, pub, restaurant, a flat, a fire alarm. Just someone make it stop. The alarm at the community centre near me kept going off during the night, so I would call either the community centre manager or the person who ran the company responsible for servicing on their mobile in the middle of the night to complain. Didnt take long for them to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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