Get Thee Behind Me, Mr Kipling
In dangers-of-the-workplace news:
The grown adult quoted above is Professor Susan Jebb, employed by the University of Oxford to think deeply on matters of diet, and current chair of the Food Standards Agency. For our disapproving academic, the workplace is akin to a “smoky pub,” due to the occasional presence of cake, and therefore conjures – in her mind, at least – notions of “passive smoking.” Being offered a slice of cake during one’s coffee break is, it turns out, grounds for invoking victimhood. And because struggling with even the most routine self-possession has to be blamed on something:
Cauliflower enthusiasts will no doubt be gutted.
Professor Jebb insists that her desire to make workplace cake-bringing taboo – and seen as something harmful and antisocial – is “not about the nanny state,” or, dare I suggest, some personal inadequacy. You see, the advertising of cakes and other confections – and the fact that they may be accessible in the workplace – is “undermining people’s free will.” Free will being demonstrated only by compliance with Professor Jebb’s New Rules Of Cake-Eating. And which is why, one assumes, this grown woman, a professional intellectual, can’t say no to a bit of sponge.
Cakes in the workplace – and their allegedly unhinging effects on women – have, of course, been mentioned here before.
Via Christopher Snowdon, who, as you might imagine, has some thoughts.
Asimov’s Foundation: read it when I was 13. I would read any scifi at that age. We had stacks of paperbacks. Even for a 13 yr old who would grant talking trees and interstellar travel, his premise was unbelievable.
Yes, I was like that too: Read all sorts of books cover-to-cover, even when the first few chapters did not excite.
Later, when I learned more about the science fiction publishing industry, I wondered to what extent Asimov and his editor knew the premise was absurd but went with it because it was entertaining. My other speculation (less grounded in evidence) was that perhaps Asimov was inspired by the Marxist theory of an inevitable, predictable arc of history–not that psychohistory was transparently Marxist (it wasn’t) but because Asimov knew so many leftists.
Another unbelievable Asimov story: The Naked Sun, in which entire planetary populations live in solitude, each individual in their own home and traumatized by the idea of face-to-face contact with other humans. Given that people are social beings and are likely to go insane in isolation, the premise of that story was very…strange.
Like trying to take away gas stoves in the US last week on a flimsy pretext (a single badly-done study on indoor air pollution).
More like ‘fake pretext’. While California has gone furthest in working towards a complete natural gas ban (shocker, I know), it’s always about saving Mother Gaia from nasty human-caused climate change. Berkeley (another shocker) was the first city to ban any new gas hook-ups in homes back in 2019. 40 other cities quickly followed and as of this past Jan 1, all new home/building construction throughout the state must be all electric. Gas furnaces and heaters will be banned in 2030. Again, all for climate change.
When the Biden admin started floating the idea for the nation, the backlash/mocking began and – another shocker – the Woke started their usual – “the ban isn’t happening you rightwing conspiracy mongers and btw, it’s a good thing that it could happen to SAVE THE CHILDREN”
I’ve argued with more than a few of these people who want my ‘grandma card’ revoked because I want my grandkids to die from asthma.
Sheesh.
Intelligence, regrettably, is no guarantee of wisdom.
Was the crying an act? Or was he really too stupid to understand the seriousness of what he did?
Because libraries must be “welcoming to all”. Must.
“Period poverty”. That’s a new one to me.
It appears dear Susan is getting some support in her opposition to “the menace of office feeders”.
Scamming via surveys:
It’s always all about creating phoney crises and then extracting money from the taxpayer.
“period poverty”–in what possible way is anyone too poor for tampons? Oh, I see, they must be provided free even in men’s restrooms because fairness. urgle
“period poverty”–in what possible way is anyone too poor for tampons?
It is not only that they are poor, but worse, the ersatz men have to go down an aisle marked “feminine” and see pink boxes which will cause violent harm, though it is not clear what happens if the LARPers see the blue, magenta, or black boxes, but the latter are probably racist.
I suppose, given that real women of all demographics manage to afford tampons &c., to suggest if this lot wasn’t blowing their money on plastic surgery, tattoos, hair dye, and piercings they probably could too is transbi2Setcophobic.
Like trying to take away gas stoves in the US last week on a flimsy pretext (a single badly-done study on indoor air pollution).
Two studies – the first is here (summarized and link to original), but the second, which I have in PDF, but am trying to find the link to again, is absurd – basically the “researchers” made a mock kitchen, unvented, and sealed the doorways and anything else against external air, put a Walmart box fan on the floor to “simulate air flow” (but still no ventillation) and, mirabile dictu, the NOX and other levels were off the charts.
Science!™
A pathetic refusal to answer or even address a simple question.
The only “period poverty” I am willing to acknowledge involves a sticking keyboard.
A siren call for hatred!!!11!!
Our authoress…
Forget it Farnsworth. She’s a doctor (Surgical Lead and Clinical Sub Dean no less).
My conversation with my doctor this morning:
Me: We changed from the statin to this other drug. While I do not feel the same extreme weakness nor pain in my legs with the new drug, it is still there and I’ve only been on this new one a couple of months now.
Doctor: Yes, we took you off the statin and the problems went away.
Me: Yes but (repeat above)
Doctor: Those were issues with the statin but you’re not on it anymore so it can’t be that.
Me: But when I was on neither drug my pain and weakness went away
Doctor: The pain and weakness were a side effect of the statin, not this drug. The pain and weakness you are experiencing must be something else..
Me: (to myself) OK, I’ve dropped 30 pounds and am in relatively good physical shape, where the hell is this conversation going… I’ll just shut up now.
Doctor: I see you’re up to date on your immunizations, not old enough for pneumonia vaccine, have you gotten your flu vaccine?
Me: No, I’m not terribly interested in new or more vaccines right now
Doctor: But neither have you haven’t gotten the Shingles vaccine
Me: Well, since on one in my family ever had an issue with shingles, I’m not terribly concerned about it.
Doctor: (stated definitively) Shingles is not genetic
Me: (thinking to myself: Sure seems like that’s a possibility. Somewhat. Even this land grant school educated dummy knows that Shingles is reactivated chicken pox. I even double checked now and that still seems to be the general consensus. Not everyone who has has chickenpox gets shingles. There might be a genetic reason for that. Odd that he seems so sure of himself here…leaves office…)
Me: Googles “could shingles be genetically related”
Google: (about a dozen articles like this one) https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/news/20080516/family-history-ups-shingles-risk
And I’ll be polite and leave out where our prostate/PSA test discussion went…
—
Doctors, what don’t they know? What is a woman after all?
Also in the world of simple truth’s Prince Harry’s book is just good literature. You bloody philistines trying to gaslight me. I almost missed out on a modern classic. It must be like Oedipus Rex or something.
Farnsworth, chill man. Her objection was that “adult human female” promoted hate, and that the alternative “adult female human” must be used instead.
I hope that’s totally clear, now?
…promoted hate,
And, of course, “promoted hate” in Newspeak means “disagreed with” in English.
Her objection was that “adult human female” promoted hate, and that the alternative “adult female human” must be used instead.
Yeah, but…
…is the most asinine thing I have heard an alleged doctor say in a dog’s age. I wonder if Bond University is also pushing Aboriginal medicine (as featured here before) in their curriculum.
I can’t believe this lady was denied gym entrance.
clueless MDs: it is just bizarre when you read this, but IRL it is not funny. You get the NHS requiring pap smears on XY persons without a cervix and not giving those same people prostate exams (as read about in the US so maybe I’m wrong). You get docs willing to disfigure 13 yr olds. You get denial that certain medical conditions are more likely for certain races. And of course putting a trans “woman” in charge of women’s shelters. Getting stupid endangers people.
Well per my doctor (today) all that prostate stuff they “don’t need to do anymore”. Apparently because they “found” that they were doing more harm than good. Which was a whole other can of worms that I really didn’t want to get into but suffice to say the conversation made no logical sense. I soooo wanted to say, “Oh, so kinda like the tonsillectomy thing”. Not to mention ask what the medical profession was doing to compensate for all that harm that they did. Of course most of the men harmed are now conveniently dead.
I am not ashamed to say that I like Kipling.