unicorn

People keep mentioning the price of eggs. Obviously, that's the worst possible example if you're interested in the truth, since the price of eggs went up significantly due to all of the poultry killed from bird flu. But it politics, it's not the truth that matters. It's what people want to believe.

Reminds me of another actor whose hanging I couldn't fathom, the gorgeous actor Jonathan Brandis. He had talked to friends about suicide, so perhaps he might have been saved?

Well, studies with nearly-successful suicide survivors have shown that the act is often impulsive, and, more often than not, preceded by an acute interpersonal crisis. I wonder if something could have been done to prevent this one. https://means-matter.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/duration/#Simon The Houston study interviewed 153 survivors of nearly-lethal suicide attempts, ages 13-34. Survivors of these attempts were thought to be more like suicide completers due to the medical severity of their injuries or the lethality of the methods used. They were asked: “How much time passed between the time you decided to complete suicide and when you actually attempted suicide?” One in four deliberated for less than 5 minutes! (Simon 2005). Duration of Suicidal Deliberation: 24% said less than 5 minutes 24% said 5-19 minutes 23% said 20 minutes to 1 hour 16% said 2-8 hours 13% said 1 or more days A study from Deisenhammer asked people who were seen in a hospital following a suicide attempt how long before their suicidal act they first started thinking about attempting it. 48% said within 10 minutes of making the attempt. The full distribution is as follows: In an Australian study of survivors of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, 21 of 33 subjects (64%) stated that their attempt was due to an interpersonal conflict with a partner or family member (deMoore 1994). Most survivors were young men who did not suffer from major depression or psychosis, and the act was almost always described as impulsive. A similar study in Texas with 30 firearm attempters found 60% had experienced an interpersonal conflict during the 24 hours preceding their attempt

One always wonders why someone who seems to have everything going for himself would commit suicide. Yet gorgeous Spanish-American actor Francisco San Martin appears to have done just that. What I wouldn't do to be able to live in that body...

Assuming adequate NaCl intake, water is probably the best source for hydration, like the AHA says. Two liters per day are what most experts recommend. While not necessarily the best option for hydration, many studies have shown strong associations between coffee intake and reduced mortality. While causation has not been established, lowest mortality seems to happen at 3.5 cups per day, with further consumption not being beneficial. Here are the results from a NEJM study, and a meta-analysis, which included many studies, including the NEJM study. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1112010 "...Adjusted hazard ratios for death among men who drank coffee as compared with those who did not were as follows: 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.95 to 1.04) for drinking less than 1 cup per day, 0.94 (95% CI, 0.90 to 0.99) for 1 cup, 0.90 (95% CI, 0.86 to 0.93) for 2 or 3 cups, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84 to 0.93) for 4 or 5 cups, and 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85 to 0.96) for 6 or more cups of coffee per day (P<0.001 for trend); the respective hazard ratios among women were 1.01 (95% CI, 0.96 to 1.07), 0.95 (95% CI, 0.90 to 1.01), 0.87 (95% CI, 0.83 to 0.92), 0.84 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.90), and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.78 to 0.93) (P<0.001 for trend). Inverse associations were observed for deaths due to heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, but not for deaths due to cancer...". https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31055709/ "... The lowest relative risk (RR) was at intakes of 3.5 cups/day for all-cause mortality (RR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82-0.89), 2.5 cups/day for CVD mortality (RR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.80-0.87), and 2 cups/day for cancer mortality (RR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.99), while additional intakes were not associated with further lower mortality. An inverse association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality was maintained irrespective of age, overweight status, alcohol drinking, smoking status, and caffeine content of coffee. By region, Europe and Asia showed stronger inverse associations than US. A non-linear inverse association was found for mortality from respiratory disease and diabetes, while linear inverse association was found for mortality from non-CVD, non-cancer causes. Moderate coffee consumption (e.g. 2-4 cups/day) was associated with reduced all-cause and cause-specific mortality, compared to no coffee consumption...".

This looks like legally untested waters, then. Interesting.

I wonder how they determine the "age" of the subject of an AI image. I can think of a poster who posts AI images I consider of questionable taste. However, I don't know how one could "prove" the "age" of an image in such cases. I suspect that Bell's case will be well-publicized, and probably be examined by appellate courts. I suppose that if they can show that the images are morphed images of multiple minors, then that should pass muster and definitely be illegal. If no images of minors are used, I wonder if that could still be considered illegal. How long has this been illegal in the UK, and what have the courts said on this subject?

Well, if that's what you believe, don't do it. If you don't like my humor, feel free to ignore my posts. Simple. If you think I'm going to change the way I post in order to please you, personally, think again.

Meanwhile, in Canada:

I am Froot:

While child pornography is one of the most abhorrent crimes imaginable, using AI images, while highly distasteful, seems more nuanced, since it doesn't seem like anyone is being harmed. It will be interesting to see how the courts react.

Well, you're living in your lies. You obviously know perfectly well that Russia is by far the #1 consumer of vodka in the world, since the very statistics you quoted came from the easily-searched list which I also found. You merely changed to list to delete the top 5 per capita consumers (Russia being #1). This is not to say that Russians are the heaviest alcohol drinkers in the world. They are not. It's just to say that when they do drink, vodka is the alcoholic beverage of choice.

It's a matter of semantics. The Oxford Dictionary uses the word "historical": https://www.oed.com/dictionary/receipt_n?tab=meaning_and_use&hide-all-quotations=true#125572606 "IV.14 A statement of the ingredients and procedure required for making a dish or an item of food or drink; = recipe n. 2. Also in extended use. Now historical." What is comes down to is this: no native English speaker uses the word "receipt" as a synonym to "recipe," nor have they in many generations. Period.

In today's issue of the Los Angeles Times, there was a notation that a cartoon was being pulled because its creator was arrested on felony charges. When I looked into it, I discovered he got arrested on child pornography charges. Apparently, there's a new law which took effect on 1/1/25 in California which makes AI child porn illegal, and the cartoonist got charged for violating that law. I'm not sure how I feel about that law, since I'm not sure who the "victim" would be in AI-generated porn. However, this should serve as a wake-up call to anyone who partakes in this habit: check your local laws. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/cartoonist-arrested-child-porn/3762634/ "A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist with Bay Area ties has been arrested in Sacramento County on suspicion of child pornography. Darrin Bell, 49, a famed cartoonist who got his start at UC Berkeley, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Sacramento County jail on possession of child porn, according to Internet Crimes Against Children detectives who were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children... The arrest is the first by Sacramento Valley ICAC in which possession of computer generated/AI child pornography was charged against the suspect. A change in the law took effect with the new year making AI-generated child pornography a criminal offense."

As I predicted, rather than apologize for your lie, you compound it with another (as you always do). We used the exact same source, you liar: the numbers for the US, Ireland, Finland, etc., if you'd bothered to look, are exactly the same, to the last digit. You simply eliminated the first 5 countries and re-numbered the subsequent countries. It's very obvious and apparent to anyone who looks at the list. You didn't provide a link and hoped no one would check on your source, but I did, knowing what an egregious, consummate, shameless liar you are.

And my French and Spanish are better than your English. I don't pretend to be the least bit fluent in Russian. Who cares? It's completely irrelevant to the discussion, as you know. What I have suggested to you, but you have declined, is to use a translating app such as google translate. Don't, and suffer the consequences.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/receipt noun a written acknowledgment of having received, or taken into one's possession, a specified amount of money, goods, etc. receipts, the amount or quantity received: Economic austerity diminished the government’s tax receipts. the act of receiving or the state of being received: We are in receipt of your letter requesting a copy of the report. something that is received. receipts, Slang. evidence or proof: There's no way he's a crook—show me the receipts! Archaic. recipe. In other words, using the word as a synonym for recipe is archaic and no longer acceptable, but you might find it in old literature from the 19th Century or prior. The fact that the word used to be used in a certain way doesn't mean it will be understood in that sense today.

One thing we can always count on with @Moses--strange, unattributed "facts", and profuse lying. According to World Atlas/Euromonitor, Russia is, by far, the country with the heaviest vodka drinkers. He simply re-numbered #6 as #1, #7 as #2, and so on. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-who-consume-the-most-vodka.html Countries Who Consume the Most Vodka Rank Country Vodka Consumption Per Person (Shots Per Month, Source: Euromonitor) 1 Russia 17.28 2 Poland 13.71 3 Ukraine 9.96 4 Bulgaria 5.26 5 Slovakia 4.13 6 United States of America 3.76 7 Ireland 3.38 8 Finland 3.19 9 United Kingdom 3.01 10 Hungary 2.63 11 Canada 2.63 12 Israel 2.25 13 Austria 1.69 14 Norway 1.68 15 Czech Republic 1.51 Всегда большой лжец.

Wow. That video is quite an eye-opener. Obviously, the local police are on the take and need to be replaced. One would hope that federal authorities could step in, but maybe that's against the law in Thailand? Completely outrageous. One would have to be rather foolhardy to visit that island. The US State Department should put a Level 4 advisory for that island. Interestingly, most of Thailand is Level 1, with only some areas being Level 3: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/thailand-travel-advisory.html Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla Provinces – Level 3: Reconsider Travel Periodic violence directed mostly at Thai government interests by a domestic insurgency continues to affect security in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla. In Songkhla, the insurgency is most active in the districts of Chana, Thepha, Nathawat, and Saba Yoi. U.S. citizens are at risk of death or injury due to the possibility of indiscriminate attacks in public places.